MINSK, 30 May (BelTA) – As many as 54 investment contracts worth over $5 billion are being implemented in Minsk, BelTA learned from Minsk Mayor Andrei Shorets during the meeting of delegates of the fifth Belarusian People's Congress on 30 May.
The Mayor said that at present 54 investment contracts worth over $5 billion are being implemented in Minsk, including 25 investment contracts with foreign investments as large as $2.5 billion. Andrei Shorets specified that investors from China, Iran, Russia, Lithuania, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and other countries work in Minsk.
The official went on saying that thanks to concerted efforts to raise foreign investments in 2011-2015 the Minsk economy accounted for 70% of the country's net FDI. This year Minsk's appeal to foreign investors has been highly praised by the Financial Times influential resource fDi Intelligence Group. Minsk was the second top European city after Kiev in effective cost of doing business and one of the top 10 cities with the best strategy to raise FDI after London, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Milan.
Speaking about the development of foreign economic operations of Minsk companies, the Mayor noted that Minsk products are exported to 125 countries across the globe, with 20 new markets explored in the last few years. Minsk's staple exports include mineral products, machines, mechanisms, electric technology equipment, and chemical products. The city's largest exporters are flagships of the Belarusian production sector, namely MAZ, MTZ, Atlant, Amkodor, Integral, and Minsk Motor Plant.
Andrei Shorets mentioned growth, diversification of the export of merchandise and services, efforts to secure balanced foreign trade among the main priorities of the forthcoming five-year term. “Plans have been made to expand trade and economic cooperation with the European Union, the USA, China and India. We will have to put more efforts into exploring new markets in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa,” mentioned the Minsk Mayor.
The official went on saying that a set of measures had been approved to encourage export by Minsk-based enterprises in 2016-2020, with over 1,000 projects worth about $6 billion planned for this year alone.
The citywide meeting of delegates of the fifth Belarusian People's Congress took place in Minsk on 30 May. As many as 400 delegates from Minsk were invited to attend the event as well as representatives of central government agencies, representatives of the general public of Minsk, members of the council of elders under the Minsk City Executive Committee, representatives of labor collectives and public organizations.
