Business news

MINSK, 26 June (BelTA) – Belarus needs precise and understandable indicators to measure the effectiveness of the civil engineering industry. Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov made the relevant statement during the session of the Council of Ministers’ Presidium on 26 June, BelTA has learned. Participants of the session discussed the strategy for the development of the civil engineering industry in 2018-2030.

The head of government stressed: “Increasing the export of construction services and diversifying them are vital directions in the development of the civil engineering industry. But without higher labor productivity, without modernizing the production facilities, reducing costs, and switching to digital technologies we will not be able to compete on foreign markets and raise living standards of the nation. We need precise and understandable and, most importantly, justified indicators for measuring the effectiveness of the construction industry.”

Andrei Kobyakov noted that work conditions on the home market and foreign ones dynamically change. There is no doubt the changes have an impact on the country’s social and economic development as a whole and the development of the civil engineering industry in particular. “We should adequately and timely respond to these changes,” said the head of government.

In December 2017 the government decided to set up an interagency working group to put together the strategy for developing Belarus’ civil engineering industry in 2018-2030.

The head of government said that capabilities of Belarusian companies that provide civil engineering services and make construction materials have been considerably enhanced in the last few years. “The manpower potential of the civil engineering industry has been beefed up. The potential is insufficiently effectively used at present. Yet the conditions enabled in Belarus allow using new development mechanisms and avoiding the dependence on state budget financing. The measures the government and the central bank have taken to slow down inflation have expanded access of commercial banks to resources on sufficiently comfortable terms. It is necessary to get these resources involved in construction projects, including projects for building social, engineering, and transport infrastructure,” stated Andrei Kobyakov.