Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov speaks on behalf of the Like-Minded Group of Countries Supporters of Middle-Income Countries
22.05.2017On May 22, 2017, at the United Nations Economic and Social Council Forum on Financing for Development follow-up held at the UN Headquarters in New York, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Valentin Rybakov speaks on behalf of the Like-Minded Group of Countries Supporters of Middle-Income Countries.
According to the World Bank classification, the category of middle-income countries (MICs) comprises more than a hundred states in the world. MICs account for more than a third of global GDP and a quarter of world’s exports and imports. About 70% of the world’s poor live in these countries. Belarus is among the top sub-category of upper-middle-income countries. In 2016 Belarus, Costa Rica and several other countries initiated establishment at the UN headquarters of a separate group of like-minded supporters of the interests of this category of countries.
In its joint statement (video, text) the Group presented a vision of the place and role of middle-income countries in achieving global sustainable development and drew attention to the specific problems they face in financing development.
The Group mentioned the results of its first Ministerial Meeting held in New York in September 2016 and stressed the need to develop a more nuanced countries classification that would go beyond the per capita income criteria and take into account the specific development problems of these countries.
According to the Group, the United Nations should be ready to a greater extent than today to make use of the potential of MICs in the global development. This requires a separate coordination mechanism involving all elements of the UN system.
