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18.05.2016

Belarus PM: Dependence of the national economy on external factors must be reduced

MINSK (BelTA) – Reducing the dependence of the national economy on external factors as much as possible is the key goal the Belarus government intends to accomplish in the medium term, BelTA learned from Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov on 18 May.

“The traditional priorities will stay unchanged. We are talking primarily about the development, expansion, enhancement and diversification of export. The key goal is to reduce dependence on external factors as much as possible. It is unlikely that any country can fully escape external factors but reducing this dependence in addition to raising the competitive ability of the economy is a key goal in the principal provisions, which are supposed to be implemented in 2016-2020,” noted Andrei Kobyakov.

In his words, the Belarus government intends to diversify export by 2020 in a way to ship one third to the Eurasian Economic Union, another third to the European Union, and another third to other countries, including countries of the so-called distant arc. “It will also give us the ability to stop being dependent on the economic situation in specific countries. It will make us more resilient,” explained Andrei Kobyakov.

The priority to create new jobs will be implemented as well. “We will have to create 50,000 jobs at new enterprises every year. Yesterday we summed up results of the economy's performance in Q1 2016. It is one of the key parameters for evaluating the effectiveness of the power vertical,” said Andrei Kobyakov.

The Prime Minister noted it is important to attract investments. “About 100 vital investment projects will be implemented in the country in 2016-2020. We will have to raise about $30 billion in investments, including some $16 billion as FDI,” he said.

“Export, employment, and investments are the three factors we intend to rely on in order to ensure the quality development of our economy,” concluded the Belarusian head of government.

On 18 May Andrei Kobyakov was elected to participate in the fifth Belarusian People's Congress. As many as 61 people were elected to represent Minsk's Moskovsky District together with the prime minister. Those elected include Finance Minister Vladimir Amarin, Interior Minister Igor Shunevich, Rector of the Belarusian State University Sergei Ablameiko, Chairman of the Education, Science, Culture, and Social Development Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Nikolai Kazarovets.

The fifth Belarusian People's Congress is scheduled to take place in Minsk on 22-23 June. Results of implementation of the program on Belarus' social and economic development in 2011-2015 and the principal provisions of the program on the country's social and economic development in 2016-2020 will be on the agenda. The forum is expected to gather 2,500 people.