Business news

3 May 2021

Belarus, Russia outline action plan for cooperation in microelectronics industry

An archive photo

MINSK, 3 May (BelTA) – Belarus has outlined an action plan for cooperation with Russia in microelectronics industry, Belarus’ Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said in an interview to Belarus 1 TV Channel as he commented on the results of the recent meeting of the leaders of the two countries, BelTA has learned.

“If we talk about machine-building, chemical and petrochemical enterprises, they already have a very high level of cooperation. We have looked at the segments that are becoming very important due to the sanctions against both the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. This is the microelectronics industry, the electronic component base,” said Roman Golovchenko.

According to him, there is a need to synchronize the efforts and involve Belarusian microelectronics companies in the development programs of the microelectronics industry in Russia. “Our potential has not just been preserved, but has also been developed and multiplied,” he added.

The prime minister also stressed that it was important to understand the market, the range of products and the scale of possible deliveries, if the products are to meet the technical requirements of consumers. Roman Golovchenko clarified that the matter pertains to cooperation in both military and civilian electronics. “An action plan and a roadmap have been outlined, so we are moving forward,” he said.

Speaking about the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held in Kazan on 29-30 April, Roman Golovchenko noted that the Eurasian Economic Union countries agreed to expand cooperation in the outer space activities. “We paid special attention to the space cooperation program. We should move faster along this track. We should act fast to develop a constellation of satellites, which will provide information in the interests of all the members of the union: not only Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan, which have space technology, but also our other partners,” the prime minister said.

“Personally, I urged my colleagues that we should open funding for these projects faster. There is not much time left. According to the program, the result should be achieved by 2025,” he added.

Belarus was particularly interested in the regulation of electronic commerce. “We have the lowest thresholds for duty-free import of goods in international mail. There is no parity so far, but we insisted that by the end of this year the countries should take coordinated decisions to reach a single threshold for duty-free imports of goods,” the prime minister said. He noted that “the disparity, which gives rise to shady flows, affects the budgets of the countries, especially Belarus, which has the lowest threshold”. According to Roman Golovchenko, “all colleagues agreed that we have to go this way, to equalize the situation step by step.

Commenting on the results of the meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Roman Golovchenko said that the Belarusian side had approved and handed over to Russia 26 draft Union State integration programs, with two more still in the works. He noted that the programs were previously agreed on at the level of the heads of departments. “They imply, in fact, a common policy in different sectors of the economy (industry, agriculture) to avoid arguments over which areas of production and imports of agricultural products to develop. These are specific programs to reach unified conditions not only in the economic sector, but also in the planning of future activities,” the prime minister explained.

As for the remaining two programs, they are quite complex in economic terms, so they require a lot of calculations, added Roman Golovchenko. “We are discussing the right way to put this scheme together, so that the whole package of the Union State programs would start more quickly, and the economic filling of the Union State would reveal its full potential,” he said. Speaking about the terms, the prime minister noted that the decisions would not be postponed indefinitely, but, he said, there are no strict deadlines. “The situation does not push to do something urgently. We are communicating, bringing our positions closer. Over the last six months we have brought our positions closer together to a much greater extent than in the past few years. We are moving forward at the same constructive, calm pace,” he said.

“The only task is to create equal conditions for economic entities, there is no conspiracy here,” said Roman Golovchenko, adding that this is the goal of the Belarusian and Russian authorities. “Only having equal conditions, we will not only be able to compete on equal terms, we will be able to complement each other, to develop new products, new technologies,” he concluded.



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