Foreign trade of the Republic of Belarus: trends and prospects

Export-import relations and foreign trade operations directly affect the flow of foreign currency into the country, saturation of the Belarusian market, effectiveness of financial activities of business entities and state budget revenues. In this regard, the development of foreign trade and its government regulation in the conditions of constant changes in external factors plays a special role. The article considers foreign trade as an important factor of economic development and analyses it taking into account exports of goods and services and imports of goods and services in order to determine trends and prospects for the foreign trade development in the Republic of Belarus. The purpose of the article is to assess and identify the features of the foreign trade development of the Republic of Belarus in the international business environment for the effective management of foreign trade activities of both the Republic of Belarus as a whole and individual business entities in particular. The main indicators under analysis are balance and trade turnover, exports, share of exports in the GDP, imports, share of imports in the GDP of Belarus. The analysis of the dynamics and structure of Belarusian foreign trade by main types of goods and services has been conducted. The geographical distribution of exports and imports by main countries has been studied. The analysis was based on the official data of the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus. In the result of the analysis the following conclusions are made: 1. There is a significant share of exports and imports in the GDP of Belarus. 2. There is a negative balance of foreign trade. 3. Exports and imports are carried out mainly with the CIS countries (especially Russia). 4. Mineral products occupy the largest share in the commodity structure of exports and imports of Belarus. 5. Transportation services have the largest share in the structure of exports and imports of services to Belarus.