Belarus can improve its Human Development Index rankings


MINSK, 5 November (BelTA) – Belarus has opportunities to improve its standings on the Human Development Index, UN/UNDP Representative in Belarus Antonius Broek told a press-conference on 5 November.

In his words, Belarus has indisputably achieved a huge progress in human development. “But nevertheless I believe Belarus may improve its position in the Human Development Index, it has the necessary potential,” he said.

Antonius Broek added that Belarus has done a lot to move up in the rating, but it still has much to do. “I do not mean the economic growth only. It is about greater number of services, their quality and the dev elopement of small and medium-sized businesses. The indexes should be improved, and Belarus should understand that it will face tougher competition with other countries for better positions in the rating,” said the expert.

In his words, Belarus’ high rankings are stipulated by the fact that the country’s economy was not severely affected by the crisis. “Its impact was not so heavy as in other countries,” The UNDP official believes

For his part, Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Tur noted that the latest Human Development Index includes three new components: human development index adjusted for inequality, gender inequality and multidimensional poverty. All this suggests that the research continuously gets expanded becoming more accurate. “Such ratings are very important for the state, and not only in terms of national income per capita, life expectancy, education, prosperity but also in terms of quality of life in general. Important are the trends and public policy that allow us to improve the ratings,” he said.

Now Belarus needs to analyze what measures have helped improve the standings on the Human Development Index rankings and also address the flaws and problems, including demographic issues, noted Andrei Tur.

Andrei Tur also drew attention to Belarus’ position in another rating, namely doing business. The country has moved down on this rating. This, in many things, is connected with the crisis, the deputy minister stressed. “At the same time Belarus is among the ten economies that made the largest strides in making their regulatory environment more favorable to local business over the last five years. For us, this is a very important index,” he said.