BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 17
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Belarus and Uzbekistan have significant potential for the development of trade and economic cooperation, including in the sphere of trade of goods via exchange, Ministry of antimonopoly regulation and trade of Belarus (MART) told Trend in an interview.
According to the Ministry, this is due to the common economic policy of the two countries aimed at the widest possible use of information technologies.
“Since its establishment in 2004, the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) has been one of the most active participants and engines in the digital transformation of the Belarus economy. The BUCE is constantly "keeping pace" with technological progress and often anticipates new developments. These are primarily issues related to the development of paperless trade, electronic document management and electronic payment systems,” Ministry stated.
The Ministry stated that currently, 29 companies from Uzbekistan are accredited on the BUCE. According to statistics of the Ministry, during 2020 to date, Belarus supplied mainly wood, lumber, flour and milk powder to Uzbekistan through the exchange.
Meanwhile, during 2019 Uzbekistan mainly imported petrochemical products, road and construction machinery, tractors and food from Belarus. During 2019, Belarus from Uzbekistan mainly imported cotton yarns, textiles and dried fruits.
“Unlike many exchanges, any foreign company can be accredited as a stockbroker at BUCE. To date, such organizations operate in Hungary, Germany, Kazakhstan, China, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The effectiveness of this form of cooperation is very high. In this regard, the BUCE is considering the possibility of accrediting a brokerage organization in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek broker will contribute to the strengthening of Belarusian-Uzbek trade and economic relations, as one broker can make transactions on behalf of hundreds of companies,” Ministry said.
According to MART, the exchange has implemented a number of instruments to improve the efficiency of cross-border trade and facilitate business in Belarus and abroad.
“Uzbek Republican Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange (UZEX) is following the same innovative path, which has also focused on the introduction of advanced technologies and digital transformation of key business processes,” Belarus Ministry said.
According to the Ministry, in the future, the BUCE and UZEX plan to continue sharing information, experience and technological solutions in the field of electronic exchange trade, as well as joint efforts to promote exchange instruments among businesses of both countries.
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