On behalf of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus and on my own behalf, I greet the delegates of the Forum, representatives of national associations of alumni and societies of friendship with the Republic of Belarus and the CIS member states!

Everyone who is fortunate enough to be a student recalls the time of study as the most interesting, and at the same time, a responsible period of life. In student years, the foundations for future professional and personal success are laid.

Today we see that the international community of our university graduates is growing year by year. And Belarus is proud that its highly qualified specialists represent worthily the scientific and educational traditions of the national higher education in many countries of the world.

It is gratifying that foreign graduates strive to maintain ties with their native universities.

Your example convincingly shows that everyone who once studied in Belarus and other CIS countries and who is still to study here will fondly remember their student years and the country that became their second home during their studies. And the knowledge gained in Belarusian educational institutions will contribute to peace and mutual understanding among our peoples.

I hope that the Forum will become not only a meeting of old friends, but will also give a start to new joint projects and initiatives in the business and humanitarian spheres, and in general will serve to strengthen the multifaceted cooperation of our country with the states you represent.

I wish the Forum fruitful work, and I wish all its participants good health and prosperity.

Minister of Education of the Republic of Belarus I.V. Karpenko