The ongoing globalization of the world economy and production systems meant that investment promotion activities were important for developing countries.

One foreign policy priority of Belarus was full and equitable integration into the world economy and multilateral trading system.

Full integration into the world economy and the new system of international trade was an urgent matter for many States.

The Eurasian Economic Community had been formed in order to drive forward the process of building the existing customs union into a single economic area, and to coordinate its member States' integration into the world economy and trading system.

The ongoing globalization of the world economy and production systems underlines the importance of investment and technology promotion activities, which are critical for developing countries and economies in transition.

Despite the frequent emphasis on the need to expand long-term development support to countries struggling to integrate in the world economy, the system's capacity to provide this support is hindered by the growing preference of contributing countries for short-term and dedicated development funding.

We also need an educational system that meets international standards of quality and effectiveness — a system that will foster creativity and help our peoples to realize their dreams; a system that will optimize our countries' human resources so as to enable us to play an important role in the world economy; a system which will help to close the digital divide among nations.

The risks of failure included greater recourse to regional and bilateral initiatives, increased unilateralism, resurgent protectionism and trade disputes, with negative implications for the world economy, the multilateral trading system and growth in developing countries.

This phenomenon of trade-driven globalization has both contributed to and is affected by some paradigm shifts in the world economy, the international trading system and in developing countries themselves.

It is time to end the rhetoric and to take concrete actions to resolve the cross-cutting issues currently faced by the world economy and financial system in order to maintain the social safety net for millions of poor people around the world who are vulnerable to all kinds of crises.