Belarusian Journal of International Law and International Relations 2000 — N 4
Summaries
International Law
Theoretical Issues
Problematic Aspects of the Definition of the Notion «Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice» — Andrey Velichkovsky
International Treaties Law
Codification and Progressive Development of the Institute of Reservations to International Treaties — Alexandr Zharsky
International Criminal Law
Formation and Development of the CIS States' Collaboration in Combatting Organized Crime — Vladimir Merkushin
The Principles of Legal Regulation of International Cooperation in Combatting Terrorist Acts — Oleg Chernyshev, Vladimir Generalov
The Legal Basis and Forms of Cooperation of the CIS Member-states in Combatting Drug Trafficking — Igor Tarasov
Comparative Law
The Legal Basis, Mechanism and Meaning of Federalism in the Constitutional System of the United States — Ksenia Getman
On the Socialist Republic of Vietnam National Assembly Competence — Ngo Dyk Tuang
International Private Law
Problems of Legal Regulation of the Internet Relations with a Foreign Element — Elena Leanovich
International Relations
Foreign Policy of the Republic of Belarus: Summing up the First Results of the First Decade — Vladimir Snapkovsky
Foreign Cultural Policy of the Republic of Belarus: the State and the Problems — Victor Shadursky
The Issues of Perception of Belarus — Russia Integration by the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Countries — Irina Pimoshenko
The Main Directions of Germany's MFA Activity — Alexandr Sidortsov
Emergence and Development of International Protection of Women's Rights — Elena Shakuro
Refugees' Rights Protection (the materials of the UNHCR seminar for the NGO's representatives from October 13, 2000) — Andrey Goiko
International Economic Relations
Tourism in Belarus — a Difficult Search for a New Image — Leonid Gaidukevich
Objective Economic Reasons for the Euro Introduction — Maxim Kapustin
Towards the Development of Trade and Economic Relations of Belarus with Foreign Countries (1971—1985) — Vladimir Borisenko
Foreign Capital in the Structure of Taiwan Economy — Khe Kin Phong
FULL ISSUE 
English Summaries
"Problematic Aspects of the Definition of the Notion «Jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice»" (Andrey Velichkovsky)
The article surveys various theoretical problems related to defining the essence of jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. These problems arise from certain ambiguity of the term "jurisdiction" and abundance of legal theories that propose different approaches to determining the scope of the Court's jurisdiction.
At the beginning of the article the author explains the importance of jurisdictional issues in the practice of the Court. It is emphasized that, whereas in the domestic field, always excepting the case of the federal States, jurisdictional issues are relatively unimportant and infrequent, the exact opposite is the case in the international field. The complexity of the issue of jurisdiction, and the far-reaching ramifications of the results of a decision on a question of jurisdiction, are reflected in the prominent place which these questions occupy in the general practice of the Court. The prominence of the jurisdictional issues before the Court is illustrated by the fact that, with few exceptions, in all cases in which a defendant State has been brought before the Court by unilateral application, it has pleaded to the jurisdiction of the Court.
The body of the article focuses on different approaches to the definition of the term "jurisdiction" and its correlation with the terms "competence" and "admissibility". The author provides detailed analysis of jurisdiction of the court in its broad and restricted sense.
Further, he also addresses the question of the doctrinal division of the jurisdiction of the Court into principal jurisdiction (or jurisdiction to decide a dispute on the merits) and ancillary jurisdiction that includes the powers of the Court to indicate provisional measures of protection, to entertain third-party interventions, to admit and adjudicate counterclaims and to determine the questions of its own jurisdiction. It should be noted that in his analysis the author uses multiple examples from the decisions of the Court to explain theoretical problems examined in the article.
Finally, the author contends that the uniformity of terminology in international legal instruments and, in particular, the exclusive usage of the term "jurisdiction" for designation of the powers of the court to decide a dispute between States on the merits and to exercise its ancillary functions connected with its main proceedings on contentious case, precludes numerous doctrinal controversies and practical difficulties in application of these instruments. The article concludes with the observation that the majority of recently adopted international legal instruments, documents of the Court and scientific works of late years witness to a tendency to uniform usage of the terminology with regard to jurisdictional issues of the Court’s work.
"Codification and Progressive Development of the Institute of Reservations to International Treaties" (Alexandr Zharsky)
Despite its short history, the institute of reservations has undergone radical changes in the approach to regulation. It is not surprising that over this time various bodies within the framework of various organizations have attempted to order and codify this institute. These attempts fall into two stages.
The first stage of codification and progressive development of the institute of reservations ended in the adoption by the states of three universal conventions: of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the 1978 Convention on the Legal Sucession of States Regarding Treaties and the 1986 Convention on the Law of International Treaties Between States and International Organizations. The provisions of these conventions, which were the result of complex agreements, attained between the positions of different countries, can be said to correspond to the state of international community for the moment of their adoption and were in line with the general trend aimed at making multinational treaties more flexible and open.
The convention norms were not the final solution of the problem of regulating reservations to international treaties, in fact they outlined the future development of the institute of reservations. The absence of clarity in the legal regulation of reservations institute, which manifests itself in the ambiguity of many provisions of these conventions and the gaps in the regulation of many issues as well as the lack of coordination in the states' practice, drew the international community's attention to the problem of reservations in the early 90s.
Since 1993 the International Law Commission has been dealing with reservations problem and this constitutes the second stage in codification and progressive development of the institute of reservations. The UN General Assembly in its resolution 48/31 from December 9, 1993 approved the decision of the Commission to include in its 46th session's (1994) agenda the topic "The Law and Practice Regarding Reservations to International Treaties".
The Commission has already achieved certain results in its activity. A preliminary investigation plan has been developed and adopted which encompasses all issues arising in making reservations. In accordance with this plan a special rapporteur has prepared four reports on the issue of reservations which were discussed at the Commission's sittings.
On the issue of the investigation results the Commission made a case for preserving the achievements of the existing provisions of the Vienna conventions. The members of the Commission refused to develop a draft protocol or a "compiled" convention but spoke for developing an article-by-article commentary to the existing provisions, which would take the form of Practice Guide for states and international organizations to be further approved by the UN General Assembly.
Based on the special Rapporteur’s reports, the forty-ninth session in 1997 saw the adoption of the Preliminary Conclusions on the Problem of Reservations to Normative Multilateral Treaties including the Human Rights Treaties. The fiftieth and the fifty-first sessions of the Commission adopted the part of the draft Practice Guide for states, devoted to the definition of reservations.
The Commission follows the approved action plan and these directions can be supposed to determine further activities of the Commission in codification and progressive development of the institute of reservations.
"Formation and Development of the CIS States' Collaboration in Combatting Organized Crime" (Vladimir Merkushin)
The article is devoted to the issues of the CIS countries collaboration in combatting organised crime.
The author explores the main problems connected with the research in this field of international collaboration and with some peculiarities of the mechanism of its international legal regulation.
Alongside with that, the article provides the analysis of the main normative legal acts which are of special importance in uniting and coordinating the CIS countries' efforts to prevent organized crime outbreaks.
The article suggests some ways of resolving these problems and sets out the following recommendations for enhancing and improving the international legal mechanism ensuring the complementary collaboration of CIS countries in combatting organised crime:
— adoption of special inter-state agreements of universal character for all CIS countries involving the corresponding correction of national legislation and their timely implementation;
— fostering collaboration between the law-enforcing bodies, the judicial bodies and penitentiaries;
— effective use of modern computer technologies, especially in consolidating of national and international databases containing information about the criminal situation in the CIS countries and the world at large;
— improvement of technical and academic training of the criminal justice bodies staff and rendering them financial and personnel assistance;
— development of syllabi for all levels of education for better information of the general public about the problems connected with combatting new kinds of crime and its organised forms.
"The Principles of Legal Regulation of International Cooperation in Combatting Terrorist Acts" (Oleg Chernyshev, Vladimir Generalov)
The international community encountered the necessity to counteract terrorism more actively in the end of the 1960s- the beginning of the 1970s. In this particular period terrorist acts were widely used as means of political struggle and influencing the political processes of the society. Naturally, the world community responded by cooperation in the field of combatting terrorism.
When systematizing the existing practice of coordination of the efforts of the world community against terrorist acts, it should be mentioned that it is based on 11 fundamental international conventions. The cooperation in the field of combatting terrorism is also carried out within international organizations that elaborated fundamental programme final documents.
Concerning the post-soviet states, it should be underlined that after the disintegration of the single legal space of the former USSR, the criminal world integrated quickly in contrast to the political world of the region. The police and secret services of the USSR member-states lost their centre, thus reducing the efficiency of their independent efforts in combatting crime.
Since 1991 a range of fundamental interstate normative acts have been signed in order to coordinate efforts in combatting terrorism and other forms of grave criminal offences in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
However, the provisions fixed are not precise enough, therefore making the opportunity of their application by different states harder in specific cases.
In this connection, the world community with respect to the needs and particular legislative models of all countries and for the realization of the international agreements adopted a range of legislative acts aimed at prevention and stopping terrorism.
A series of bold terrorist acts in Kizlyar and Pervomayski, explosions of apartment houses in Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk and a large antiterrorist operation in Chechnya gave a strong impetus to the codification process in the sphere of combatting terrorist acts in Russia.
The codification activities in this sphere also continue in Belarus with respect to broad international practice in legislation development.
The analysis of foreign legislation shows certain regularities of legal regulation of combatting terrorism, which are of interest for legislation development activities in Belarus.
1) codification of the legislative norms in the field of combatting terrorism contributes to their more efficient application;
2) domestic law of the states should give timely response to the changes in the international treaty practice consistently reflecting all its positive aspects;
3) despite the trend towards legislation liberalization common to the developed states, they fix enhanced penalty for committing terrorist acts and participating in terrorist acts;
4) criminal prosecution for acts of the violence against individuals who fall within special protection right is fixed by the norms of the so-called emergency antiterrorist law;
5) during the development and adoption of legislative and other normative acts regulating combatting crime it is important to consider the special features of the socio-political and criminal situation in Belarus.
"The Legal Basis and Forms of Cooperation of the CIS Member-states in Combatting Drug Trafficking" (Igor Tarasov)
The author analyses the normative basis of the CIS regarding combatting drug trafficking and outlines the forms the cooperation in this field takes.
The normative basis for the CIS countries' cooperation in combatting illicit drug business consists of various normative acts. In view of the importance of this problem, the issues of coordination and interaction in combatting organised crime in general and drug trafficking in particular, have found their place in various categories (the 1993 Charter of the CIS etc.), normative acts regulating certain spheres of cooperation (The 1992 Agreement of cooperation of the CIS member-states on ensuring stability at their outer borders); and also special agreements on the issues of combatting crime (the 1998 Agreement of the CIS member-states on combatting crime).
While noting the importance of the adopted normative acts and the forms used to interact in combatting illicit drug trafficking, the author makes certain suggestions to provide further developments in this direction, which, if adopted, could contribute to the progress in opposing drug trafficking.
"The Legal Basis, Mechanism and Meaning of Federalism in the Constitutional System of the United States" (Ksenia Getman)
The article is devoted to one of the main principles of using power in the constitutional system of the United States which lies in the separation of governing authority between the federal government and the local (that is, state) government.
The purpose of the article is examination of permanent peculiarities of the constitutional system of the United States which lead to stability of the two-party system of the United States and its specific nature.
The article analyses the following mechanisms contained in the American Constitution and legislation which are based on federalism and support it: the powers of the states and the powers of the nation are determined, the judicial power follows federal law supremacy, the states actively participate in the formation of the federal authorities, the federal system of the political parties has its base in the states, etc.
The main significance of the American federalism is in providing the enormous and diverse country with effective governance. All the beliefs and values of the American people, which were formed in their day by the American history within the states, underlie such constitutional system.
The goal of the creation of the federal system was to insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence as well as promote the general welfare. National programs are administered through strong state governments as active partners of the federal government with regard to ethnical, regional and economical particularities of the states and priority of the interests of the nation.
"On the Socialist Republic of Vietnam National Assembly Competence" (Ngo Dyk Tuang)
The article is devoted to the competence of the parliament of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The author analyses the articles of the new Vietnam constitution and writes also about other legislative acts regulating the authority of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The article goes further to explain the controlling function of the National Assembly.
"Problems of Legal Regulation of the Internet Relations with a Foreign Element" (Elena Leanovich)
The article gives an insight into the new issues of international private law in the new virtual surroundings.
The Internet is absolutely new legal environment. It eliminates national borders and breaks old rules of law. The following problems arise with respect to the behavior of persons operating in it: jurisdiction of which state is at issue, i.e. courts or competent bodies of which state have powers to consider the Internet connected cases; law applicable to these cases; content of this law.
National and international legal rules regulating the Internet problems have been developed not so long ago. They are based on the following basic principles. State regulation is combined with the self-regulation of persons operating in the Internet. The so-called principle of co-regulation gives them an opportunity to form rules of behavior in virtual space. The results of the self-regulation process need some time to appear. Therefore adoption of special legal acts by state bodies are deemed to be premature.
Due to the lack of special rules on the Internet relations courts and other bodies apply general legislation rules. At the same time specific features of the Internet cause their development, modification and change. In particular, it concerns jurisdiction questions in the Internet cases. It is generally recognised that the basic rule of jurisdiction is the principle of respondent’s domicile or nationality. However, the development of the global information infrastructure does not allow this factor to play the main role any more. In order to break the state laws an Internet user does not have to penetrate physically to the territory of a state and stay there. That is why the factor of physical presence has no meaning for the jurisdiction questions in Internet disputes. American case law and European legislative process show that in order to provide appropriate maintenance of law order within the scope of national jurisdiction courts have to expand jurisdiction rules. Thus they take into account not only the respondent’s domicile or nationality but also the actual connection of a disputable Internet relation to the state of a court.
The respective rules should be implemented in Belarusian civil legislation. It would be expedient to apply the criteria of the actual connection of a disputable Internet relation with a foreign element to the Republic of Belarus in order to give Belarusian Internet users ample opportunities and facilities to protect their legal rights and interests within the scope of Belarusian jurisdiction.
"Foreign Policy of the Republic of Belarus: Summing up the First Results of the First Decade" (Vladimir Snapkovsky)
The article considers the first results of the foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus in the 1990s. The previous history of foreign political activity of Belarus in the 20th century is characterised at the example of the Belarusian People's Republic and the BSSR.
The article covers the process of international recognition of the Republic of Belarus and analyses the development of its foreign policy conception and the implementation of its foreign policy priorities. Two stages in the Belarusian foreign policy history in the 1990s are identified. The article explores the main directions in the foreign policy of Belarus in the sphere of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy and external economic activity. The author suggests his own evaluation of achievements and failures of the foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus.
"Foreign Cultural Policy of the Republic of Belarus: the State and the Problems" (Victor Shadursky)
The article deals with the process of formation and implementation of foreign cultural policy of Belarus in the 1990s. It analyses the establishment of administrative and legal basis for international cultural cooperation of the country and the problems and difficulties which exist in this sphere. Major attention is given in the article to shaping of inter-state relations of the Republic of Belarus in the realm of culture, to the country’s participation in the work of UNESCO and other international organizations. The article evaluates the main channels through which cultural cooperation was implemented and describes the role of the state and the public in cultural exchange organisation.
Problems and controversy characteristic of the development of cultural relations of Belarus in the last decade are analysed. According to the author, the most serious problem is the extremely slow adaptation of Belarusian society and its elite to the world-wide globalisation process. Alongside with the sovereign right to determine its domestic and foreign policy Belarus had to adopt also the new "rules of the game" in the international arena in political, economic and cultural spheres. While in the Soviet Union Belarus was guaranteed by the decision of the authorities a certain quota in the system of foreign cultural relations, the newly independent state had to win its place in the world’s cultural and informational space through fierce competition. The article concludes that Belarusian elite has not succeeded in finding an appropriate answer to the challenge of globalisation and suggesting an effective programme of balanced development of the country to the society. The lack of experience of "free navigation" in the world's cultural and information space was further complicated by economic and political problems. Funding has remained to be residual as it used to be, the material base of cultural institutions has been deteriorating at a rapid rate, etc.
At the same time, the article argues that Belarus has witnessed even more tragic periods in its history. The ability of the Belarusian people to adopt and use the achievements of other cultures, while preserving its own national identity even under the most unfavourable conditions, is an unvaluable asset at the current stage.
"The Issues of Perception of Belarus — Russia Integration by the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Countries" (Irina Pimoshenko)
The author in her article reviews the integrational process between Belarus and Russia. The positions, assessments and forecasts of a number of Western academics, politicians and experts in the field of Belarus—Russia integration are set out. The positive points as well as problem issues are noted.
The article points out that the integrational process is important and necessary for both countries and priority should be given to economic integration via the customs union, the common market, the introduction of a single currency etc. The necessity of fostering democratic institutions both in Belarus and Russia is drawn attention to. The article also stresses that only in case the sovereign rights of the integrating member-states are not infringed upon, the disbalance in democratic institutes and economic and political systems of Russia and Belarus is eliminated and the economy progresses to a high level, the integrational process between Belarus and Russia will become attractive and non-threatening for their neighbours.
"The Main Directions of Germany's MFA Activity" (Alexandr Sidortsov)
The author analyses the organizational structure, activities, selection of the staff and its education. The text also gives a brief history of the ministry from its first days.
Special attention is devoted to the entry exam and requirements to the staff of the ministry of foreign affairs of Germany.
"Emergence and Development of International Protection of Women's Rights" (Elena Shakuro)
The article considers the problem of achieving equality of men and women.
A brief history of the issue demonstrates the complexity, which baffled various countries and societies in settling the problem of equal rights, beginning with eastern despotism, the democracies of Ancient Greece and Rome, the medieval times and ending with the 2000 special session of the UN General Assembly "Women in 2000: Equality of Men and Women, Peace and Development in the 21 Century".
The article characterizes the UN fundamental documents on the status of women and the activities of the UN functional bodies, in particular of the Commission on the Status of Women under ECOSOS. Mechanisms of international protection of women's rights are explored; they are implemented through various measures within the UN framework including adoption of binding convention norms. In this regard the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is of particular interest. The countries which joined the convention are bound to adhere to its provisions such as including the principle of gender equality into their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation.
The article reviews four world conferences on women called by the UN over the last quarter of the century, which have helped to focus the attention of the world community on the gender equality issue. Decisions of the conferences united the people of the world to achieve a number of common objectives by developing an efficient action programme on advancement of women. The article presents a detailed analysis of the documents of these conferences, their importance in promoting the solution of the gender equality issue and of the obstacles their implementation has to face.
In the light of the recent UN World Conference on Women held in Beijing the UN member-states governments and NGOs have made great progress. In particular, the governments have adopted new laws and revised their state legislations to bring them into accordance with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and other international and regional acts on human rights' protection and the requirements of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Besides, the governments have taken measures to promote a full consideration of women's life realia in planning and adopting policy concerning important modern social problems, in particular, eradication of poverty. NGOs, too, have started to use more flexible approaches in ensuring women's rights and women's empowerment on all levels. Many of them under the UN aegis put the gender equality issue to the strategic front in global policy and decision-making to promote the impact on the decision-making process.
The attention to the gender equality issues remains important at the intergovernmental level especially in monitoring the implementation of the decisions of international conferences and summits. Ensuring women’s enjoyment of equal rights is regarded both as a means and the objective of combatting the old enemy of poverty.
"Refugees' Rights Protection (the materials of the UNHCR seminar for the NGO's representatives from October 13, 2000)" (Andrey Goiko)
The main direction of the UNHCR activities in Belarus is the work with diverse mixed migration flows moving from the East to the West. It is often the case of illegal migration, connected with certain economic problems and the country's security. In this situation it is important to single out true refugees from this mass and ensure their rights. This is what the seminar organizers, saw as its main task.
The Head of the UNHCR office in Belarus Bohdan Nahajlo devoted special attention in his speech to the relations with the UNHCR partners. The Associate protection officer Masako Kinoshita spoke on the UNHCR mandate on international protection. The problem of the procedure of awarding the refugee status in the Republic of Belarus was characterised by the Head of the Department for Refugee Affairs of the Committee on Migration of the Ministry of Labour Ludmila Serikova.
The participants of the seminar were unanimous in their opinion that the next logical step for our society on the way to international legal standards will be signing by the Republic of Belarus of the 1951 Convention.
"Tourism in Belarus — a Difficult Search for a New Image" (Leonid Gaidukevich)
The article analyses on the basis of factual data the problems which have accumulated in the tourism business of Belarus over the 90s and shows main organisational and legal measures undertaken by the government bodies in reforming and reshaping the image of tourist Belarus. The author puts special emphasis on the growth of the private sector in the total number of tourist services which positively enhances the quality of the services.
"Objective Economic Reasons for the Euro Introduction" (Maxim Kapustin)
The international role of any currency is determined by six basic parameters:
1. The share in the currency conversion;
2. The share in private investment portfolios;
3. The share in national bond debts;
4. The share in external payments;
5. The share in official reserves;
6. Volume of foreign currencies pegged to the given currency
As seen from Table 1, the share of the US dollar has fallen during the last twenty years. The share of the yen has also decreased. At the same time, the role of the DM and other western European currencies of the EMU has significantly increased. However, as seen from Tables 1 and 2, this process was greatly irregular.
According to the analysts from the Bank of External Payments in Basel, after the euro introduction the currency conversion market was reduced by minimum 10 % and dealers will aim to increase trade volume in the developing countries’ markets.
The smallest reduction was observed in external payments. The fall of the dollar share can be explained by a series of its devaluation during the considered period as well as by structural changes in the world trade, first of all by the reduction of the share of the OPEC member-states in international export — from 16 % in 1980 to 5 % in 1992.
In the last decades rapid reduction of the dollar share took place in the sphere of investment portfolios leading to the growth of the appropriate volume of western European currencies and the yen. (See Table 3)
The dynamics of the currency filling of the national bond debts (as seen from Table 4) is almost similar to the dynamics of private investment portfolios. The euro has good positions in this segment of world financial markets, though it may face the negative influence of the transition period.
As seen from Table 5, from 1973 gradual slide of the US dollar in official reserves of other states took place. Simultaneously, the volume of western European currencies and the yen has risen significantly.
In future, the international role of the euro, the US dollar and the yen will be determined on the whole by the level of pegging of currencies from developing countries. As for Russia and other European CIS member-states, the experts are definite in their opinion that the euro will play a more important role in their currency markets than the dollar or the yen.
However, leading international experts from the IMF and other instituitions believe that the EMU future is not absolutely bright. The point is that establishment of economic and currency unions does not envisage similar unification of the fiscal policy of the member-states. Meanwhile, its role can be especially high within fiscal federalism like the one existing already in the USA. According to some experts, the USA federal fiscal system absorbs up to 40 % of shocks that separate states of the country face. No such measures are provided within economic and currency unions. The fiscal factor against external shocks will be limited by national budgets.
The IMF experts considered the trends of the 1990s and calculated the hypothetical base level of macroeconomic indices that could have been reached by the EMU member-states in the beginning of the next millenium in case there had been no economic and currency unions. Two scenarios of the development of these countries within the EMU during 2000—2010 have been presented.
The first scenario: the EMU member-states undertake further fiscal consolidation and achieve the reduction of national expenses for medium term by the sum equal to 2 % of the GDP. Simultaneously, they will obviously increase efficiency of production factors by 0,5 % due to liberalization of the commodity markets and the introduction of a single currency. It will also lead to unemployment reduction by 2 % (to the 7 %) due to radical reforms in the labour markets.
The second scenario: the EMU member-states limit themselves to strict fulfillment of the requirements of the Pact of stability and growth but do not implement further structural reforms. Table 7 systematizes the results.
Certainly, the calculations of the experts are conditional to some extent. However, they create sufficient basis for the important conclusion: in case the economic and currency is not followed by significant reforms of the financial system and labour relations, the EMU will not only fail to be profitable for its member-states, but will also lead to the reduction of the macroeconomic indices that could emerge without the EMU.
"Towards the Development of Trade and Economic Relations of Belarus with Foreign Countries (1971—1985)" (Vladimir Borisenko)
The topicality of the article lies in the changes that Belarusian society underwent at the end of the 80s—the beginning of the 90s and in the necessity to give the scientific analysis of the potential gained and to critically revise the existing stereotypes in studying some of the aspects of the development of the trade and economic relations of Belarus with other states.
The author compares the dynamics of the USSR and BSSR international trade and economic turnover in the last 15 years and comes to the conclusion that the republic, while outstripping the national GDP growth rate, was 200 % behind in foreign trade growth rate. Thus, its potential in international markets entry was not fully realized and the level of participation in the international division of labour was extremely low. At the same time, the article provides the corresponding data to prove the fact that the integration of Belarus into the USSR economy was very high.
The BSSR trade balance with foreign countries was adverse. The author cites the traditional explanation first: the construction and modernization of enterprises in the republic; he also gives the statistics that shows that the leading positions in import were taken by agricultural products, the light and food industries. The reasons for such a situation can be found in structural disproportion in the development of certain branches of economy and large deliveries of consumer goods and food from Belarus to other republics of the Soviet Union.
The article recognizes the role of foreign equipment in the development of the Belarusian economy with the stress on its not always efficient use and on some part of imported equipment having been outdated.
The BSSR main trade partners were European member-states of the COMECON. The author defines the consequences of this for the current development of Belarus. While describing the export nomenclature, the author shows the predominance of high technology produce, mainly of the chemical and engineering industries, which proves the high level of Belarus industrialization. However, the engineering products were exported to the socialist and the developing countries but not to the world leaders in technology. This fact proves that many goods produced in the BSSR did not meet the requirements of the world market.
"Foreign Capital in the Structure of Taiwan Economy" (Khe Kin Phong)
The article characterises and analyses the in-flow and operation of foreign capital on Taiwan beginning with the post-war period up to the present time. Attention is given to the methods of encouraging direct foreign investment on the part of the state and also to the use of foreign, primarily American, aid. The analysis reveals the influence of foreign capital on restructuring of the Taiwan economy and on the state and use of state finances. The article notes that attraction of foreign investments and aid was accompanied by well-considered strategies of their use, liberalization of domestic and external economic development, improvement of workforce quality, settling of employment problems and the growth of the society’s prosperity.