MINSK, 12 December (BelTA) - The country’s social and economic development program for 2026-2030 includes tasks whose implementation should make our country better, its people wealthier, and business initiative more unfettered, Chairman of the National Bank of Belarus Roman Golovchenko said ahead of a meeting of the 11th Extraordinary Congress of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB), BelTA has learned.
“For the first time, the country’s five-year social and economic development program will be approved at a session of the Belarusian People’s Congress. It so happened that I was directly involved in the president’s decision. I headed the working group that finalized this program, reworking it substantially. The version to be submitted to the Belarusian People’s Congress is largely based on proposals from the working group. We didn’t generate them only in offices. We received input from the ground - members of the working group actively engaged with regional delegations,” Roman Golovchenko explained.
“It’s important to ensure we have hit the right priorities. We want to get feedback that we haven’t missed or forgotten anything, that we have set the priorities, goals, and tasks correctly. Although we work without being detached from the people, some things can be overlooked from the capital,” he added. “Active work is now underway in the regions, including by trade unions, to discuss the program’s provisions. I am convinced we’ve hit the mark. I hope any adjustments, if there are any, won’t be systemic.”
“The program includes, as we traditionally say, ambitious targets for the growth of population income, wages, and investments. Factors whose combined effect or implementation result should make our country better, its people wealthier, and business initiative more unfettered and free. But it is important to see the specific tasks we need to solve behind the numbers. We tried to demonstrate or place emphasis in the program precisely on technological development and technological self-sufficiency. Innovation, proprietary R&D, and the practical application of research are all essential; without them, a qualitative economic leap is highly unlikely,” Roman Golovchenko stated.
According to him, many countries lacking significant scientific and technical potential and innovative developments fall into a trap. “If we simply gradually increase the population’s income, we will hit a ceiling that will be very difficult to jump over. Therefore, to avoid falling into the middle-income trap, we need to make a substantial innovative leap in our country’s development. We have set rather ambitious parameters for increasing the knowledge intensity of our domestic product. In fact, we have a lot of resources for this, but we simply need to gather it all into a single fist and work as a whole country towards a technological breakthrough,” he said.
Roman Golovchenko was elected as a delegate to the Belarusian People’s Congress from the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus on 12 December.
“For the first time, the country’s five-year social and economic development program will be approved at a session of the Belarusian People’s Congress. It so happened that I was directly involved in the president’s decision. I headed the working group that finalized this program, reworking it substantially. The version to be submitted to the Belarusian People’s Congress is largely based on proposals from the working group. We didn’t generate them only in offices. We received input from the ground - members of the working group actively engaged with regional delegations,” Roman Golovchenko explained.
“It’s important to ensure we have hit the right priorities. We want to get feedback that we haven’t missed or forgotten anything, that we have set the priorities, goals, and tasks correctly. Although we work without being detached from the people, some things can be overlooked from the capital,” he added. “Active work is now underway in the regions, including by trade unions, to discuss the program’s provisions. I am convinced we’ve hit the mark. I hope any adjustments, if there are any, won’t be systemic.”
“One of the most complex sections of the program is Strong Regions. Our country is small, but nevertheless, certain regional differences exist, both in the placement of productive forces and in regional priorities. Therefore, it is very important here to maintain balance and understand that we have considered everything as needed,” Roman Golovchenko emphasized.
According to him, many countries lacking significant scientific and technical potential and innovative developments fall into a trap. “If we simply gradually increase the population’s income, we will hit a ceiling that will be very difficult to jump over. Therefore, to avoid falling into the middle-income trap, we need to make a substantial innovative leap in our country’s development. We have set rather ambitious parameters for increasing the knowledge intensity of our domestic product. In fact, we have a lot of resources for this, but we simply need to gather it all into a single fist and work as a whole country towards a technological breakthrough,” he said.
Roman Golovchenko was elected as a delegate to the Belarusian People’s Congress from the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus on 12 December.
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