BREST, 6 March (BelTA) – Companies operating in Brest Oblast penetrated ten new markets in 2019, BelTA learned from Sergei Telezhinksy, head of the foreign economic ties and investment department of the economy committee of the Brest Oblast Executive Committee.
In 2019 local manufacturers shipped their products to 106 countries worldwide, including new markets such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Zambia, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoir, Rwanda, Syria, and El Salvador.
The aggregate export to the new markets stood at $775,000. All in all, local manufacturers sold nearly $2.6 billion worth of products abroad in 2019, up 9% year-on-year. The trade surplus reached $840 million.
The export to the Eurasian Economic Union accounted for 74.4%, with the export to Russia standing at 68.5%. Some 14.6% of export ($379.3 million) was meant for the European Union, up 8.6%. Other countries accounted for 11% of the export, up 15.6%.
Over the four years of the five-year period companies of Brest Oblast (excluding state-run enterprises reporting to the central authorities) increased export more than 1.5 times, beating the 2016-2020 export targets significantly. For several years Brest Oblast has been the country's biggest exporter of agricultural products and foodstuffs. In 2019 the export of these commodities expanded by 10.9% up to over $1.4 billion. This is a quarter of all Belarus' agricultural exports.
“The government has set a task to diversify sales markets. Taking into consideration that our export is dominated by consumer goods and foodstuffs, the main drivers of growth are companies affiliated with the Brestmyasomolprom meat and dairy concern and the Brest free economic zone. In addition to that, we are creating conditions to enable small and medium-sized companies across the region to boost their export,” Sergei Telezhinsky said.
Decree No. 412 is meant to help domestic companies set a foothold on foreign markets. The document provides for reimbursing expenses associated with participation in international exhibitions abroad. Exporters will be able to take advantage of this instrument this year already.
