MINSK, 26 May (BelTA) – Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov announced the major coordinated priorities of the draft program for Belarus' social and economic development in 2016-2020 after the meeting with the head of state on 26 May, BelTA has learned.
“The government presented in detail its vision of the approaches to the medium-term forecast of Belarus' social and economic development for the next five years. Some of the points were disputed. As for the major development priorities, they were vastly approved. Effective investments, employment and export are among these priorities. At least these three points of the program for the next five-year period have been agreed,” the Prime Minister noted.
Andrei Kobyakov stressed that investments should be effective and should create jobs. “The amount of investments should match our capabilities and be poured into those sectors that can give real returns. Investments should help us create jobs,” the Prime Minister said. He recalled that the Belarusian gave an instruction to create at least 50,000 new jobs annually.
As for export, it has been among Belarus' priorities for the past two decades. “This includes our export markets, salary and income increases. All this is directly connected with the fact that Belarus' economy is one of the most open economies in the CIS. We cannot expect considerable progress in our social and economic development until we achieve good results in export promotion,” Andrei Kobyakov emphasized.
“The major priorities are mainly agreed. As for the social and economic development indicators, they have been strongly criticized today and will be updated. We have a relevant instruction from the head of state. A special group has been set up to review these indicators and refine the text,” the Prime Minister explained.
He added that Alexander Lukashenko gave an instruction to ensure that the text of the program is clear, understandable and specific and that it addresses the issues people are concerned about.
