OREANDA-NEWS. The World Bank has presented its Country Partnership Strategy for Belarus for 2014-2017 to the Government of Belarus, the press-service of the Belarusian government said in a release.

Belarus' Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich had a meeting with World Bank Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Qimiao Fan. During the meeting, Qimiao Fan presented the World Bank's Country Partnership Strategy for Belarus for 2014-2017, which commits to helping reforms in key areas needed for the country to regain competitiveness, maintain macroeconomic stability and sustain growth.

The strategy has been developed through extensive consultations with key stakeholders including the government authorities, business associations, civil society, development partners, and beneficiaries. As proposed by civil society partners, instruments will be developed to engage beneficiaries and civil society in monitoring the provision of services in projects supported by the World Bank Group in Belarus.

Among those challenges is the fostering of economic competitiveness through reduction of the large role of the state, which the country's entrepreneurs say will stimulate markets.

Other areas of improvements supported by the strategy include making energy more efficient, making better use of Belarus agricultural and forestry resources, and reducing waste - something that will ultimately benefit millions of Belarusians, say the country's environmentalists who were among the different groups of society consulted in the preparation of the Strategy by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC, the private sector arm of the Bank).

At the moment, there are six projects running in Belarus, supported with WB loans to the tune of USD 547.5 million.

Belarus joined the World Bank in 1992. Since then, the Bank's lending commitments in Belarus have totalled USD 865 million for 12 projects. About 30 national programs have received grant financing totalling USD 23.7 million.