MINSK, 7 December (BelTA) - It is important to increase the localization of production amid sanctions, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, BelTA has learned.
“In 2021 we faced new challenges in the form of sanctions from the collective West. Domestic manufacturers have had to deal with problems of supply of necessary components and parts. These problems are solvable. At the same time, this gives us an additional incentive to maximize the localization of domestic production, including through cooperation with the Russian Federation and our partners in the EAEU," said Roman Golovchenko.
He hailed positive trends in the import substitution effort. In 2016-2020, the production of import-substituting goods increased 1.3 times, from $13.6 billion in 2016 to about $18 billion in 2020. During this period, the share of import-substituting products in the total volume of the domestic industrial production rose from 34.2% to 38%. More than 53% of the manufactured import-substituting products are used in the country and also exported.
"The surplus of foreign merchandise trade within the framework of the approved import substitution scheme has increased by $412 million over the past five years. According to the Economy Ministry, the situation has improved thanks to the implementation of planned measures to promote import substitution," the prime minister said.
