MINSK, 25 September (BelTA) – The Belarusian government is working on proposals concerning further development of the civil engineering industry. The statement was made by Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Rumas during the session of the Council of Ministers' Presidium on 25 September, BelTA has learned.
The session focused on the draft strategy for developing Belarus' civil engineering industry till 2025 and the action plan to implement the strategy. The Architecture and Construction Ministry presented a report on fulfilling the head of state's instructions on ensuring the effective operation of the national civil engineering industry.
Sergei Rumas reminded that the head of state will host a government conference in November to discuss ways to improve the effectiveness of the civil engineering industry. The government is expected to present a report on fixing the situation in the industry. Concrete proposals on further enhancing the civil engineering industry will have to be presented.
“The performance of the civil engineering industry was reviewed in detail during a government conference hosted by the head of state back in 2013. All the necessary decisions were made and are being implemented. Yet working conditions on foreign markets and the domestic one change dynamically. Without a doubt the fact influences the country's social and economic development as a whole and the development of the construction industry in particular. We should adequately and timely respond to these changes,” stressed the head of government.
“Since then we have substantially improved the production capacity of the civil engineering industry – contractors and producers of construction materials alike. We have substantially improved the workforce potential of the industry. But judging from the documents we have today the potential is not used effectively enough,” believes the prime minister.
In his words, conditions in the country allow using new growth points and avoiding dependence on state budget financing. Measures taken by the central government and the central bank to tame inflation have expanded access to resources of commercial banks on rather comfortable terms. With this in mind Sergei Rumas believes it is possible to more broadly use resources of the banking system to build social, engineering, and transport infrastructure.
Participants of the session also discussed ways to increase the export of construction services and further diversify this export.
The prime minister made it clear that precise, understandable, and justified criteria should be used to evaluate the performance of the civil engineering industry. The housing issue remains high on the agenda. It is necessary to provide all the large families, which have been on the housing register for over one year, with homes within the specified period of time.
