Belarus ideal place for carrying out investment projects, NAIP says

MINSK DISTRICT, 6 June (BelTA) - Belarus is an ideal place for the implementation of investment projects, Dmitry Kalinin, the head of Marketing Department of the National Agency of Investment and Privatization (NAIP), told the participants of the Belarusian-Dutch forum that was held at OAO Gastellovskoye on 5 June. The event was held as part of the Agro-Industrial Week 2013, BelTA has learnt.

The forum brought together over 70 Belarusian and over 40 Dutch participants (the biggest delegation from the Netherlands over the past 10 years). The sides discussed the pressing issues concerning agribusiness in Belarus and possibilities for business, investment and R&D cooperation.

According to Dmitry Kalinin, Belarus is currently undergoing an important stage in its development because the country has drawn up a blueprint for both industrial and agricultural modernization. In this respect Belarus takes great interest in attracting FDI. In Q1 2013 Belarus raised as much investment as during the whole 2012. The Netherlands is among top ten investors in the Belarusian economy.

Dmitry Kalinin told the guests about the prospects of business development in Belarus in line with market rules. He also said that both Belarus and the Netherlands have considerable prospects in investment cooperation.

Dmitry Kalinin pointed out that Belarus is one of the world’s leading exporters of diary products. Belarus is among the leaders in food production, too. “Year after year we create more and more favorable conditions in order to attract foreign investors into the economy,” Dmitry Kalinin underlined. To prove this point Dmitry Kalinin cited the Doing Business rankings provided by the World Bank. According to the data, Belarus is ahead of its neighbors in part of business climate and lies close to the Netherlands. “However, despite such good conditions there are still a lot of investment projects in the country that need investors’ financing,” he added. Such projects pertain to livestock industries, plant growing, fish breeding and others.

Dmitry Kalinin said that Belarus is an ideal place for the implementation of investment projects and added that if companies from the Netherlands invest in Belarus the NAIP will be ready to provide all-round assistance at pre-project and post-project stages.

Belarus and the Netherlands enjoy long-lasting ties. They are regional leaders among the CIS and the EU countries respectively in production, processing and export of agricultural products per capita. The countries have developed an intensive dialogue in the agricultural industry. Companies and economic entities are the most active participants in such dialogue.

During the forum the sides noted they are pleased with the level of mutual trade. Belarus’ major exports to the Netherlands are frozen berries, mushrooms, strawberry plants and beet-root marc. A chain of ethnic stores sells Belarusian fish products, salt, juices and others. Since 2013 after getting the EU permission Belarus has been exporting milk whey to the Netherlands. Belarus’ import includes animal nutrition products, flowers, horticultural products (mainly in winter), plant-protecting agents and others.

Trade and Economic Advisor of the Belarusian Embassy in the Netherlands Dmitry Fomchenko said that further development of bilateral trade is held back by high import duties, negative pricing environment in the EU countries, additional transportation costs, phytosanitary, sanitary and other requirements.

Companies from the Netherlands have shown an increased interest in cooperation with Belarus after the establishment of the Customs Union that includes Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. “It is possible to say that they have recently become active participants in modernization of Belarus’ agricultural industry in all fields. Cutting-edge technologies from the Netherlands are successfully used in a number of Belarusian dairy farms, hog-breeding complexes and poultry farms. The companies from the Netherlands partake in the construction of premix and fodder plants. Work is underway on the projects to produce frozen bacterial and fat concentrates that will be whole milk substitutes. Cooperation in plant breeding and horticulture is active, too,” Dmitry Fomchenko said. The Dutch and Belarusian companies grow strawberries, carrots, cabbage, onion and potatoes in the open land using the Dutch technologies. Joint production of apples in industrial scale is organized in Mogilev and Brest Oblasts. A Dutch company is taking part in the construction of modern vegetable storage facilities in Belarus in order to preserve crops in winter. A licensed assembly factory to construct the Dutch potato harvesters has been organized. In partnership with the Heineken company an import-substituting project to grow brewing barley is being implemented, too. Cooperation is considerable in the construction and modernization of greenhouse complexes. Another promising field is cooperation in education and professional training of the Belarusian agricultural personnel.