SLUTSK DISTRICT, 23 October (BelTA) – To develop the industrial potential, Belarus will invest in the construction of new enterprises relying on the competencies of domestic specialists, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media during a working trip to Slutsk District on 23 October, BelTA has learned.
One of the questions was about the plans to launch a new investment cycle in Belarus next year, which the government announced when discussing the draft forecast of social and economic development, the monetary policy guidelines and the national budget for 2021.
"We need to invest in the construction of new enterprises, first of all, high-tech ones. It is useless to build outdated enterprises as they will not be able to compete in the market and sell products,” the president stressed. “We will build new enterprises, in agriculture and manufacturing industry, relying on domestic competencies."
Aleksandr Lukashenko cited the wood processing industry as an example. Belarus, having significant forest resources, used to export timber. Following the modernization the industry started producing pulp, which the country used to import. Now we use pulp to make a variety of finished products with high added value. “Today, we are happy that we sell pulp to China. Instead, we need to make a finished product, a commodity. This will make sense. We have learned to do it well in agriculture. We will continue improving and make a profit,” the president said.
The head of state stressed that new high-tech industries, such as space and nuclear power, have also been developed in Belarus. However, in the future there is no need to focus only on such large-scale projects from scratch. “That is not our goal. We are not that rich, and maybe we do not need them so much. We will develop the competencies and industries which we know very well. We will work further to make added value higher. This is what the next year's new investment cycle should be about,” the president explained.
“The goal of this investment cycle is to build new high-tech enterprises and to expand production by modernizing, developing the existing ones,” the Belarusian leader added.
The main draft financial and economic documents are planned to be further considered at the level of the head of state in November before they are submitted to the parliament. Longer-term plans - for a new five-year period - will be considered at the All-Belarusian People's Congress.
