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Opinion: Belarus can replace $4-8bn worth of imported products annually

MINSK, 31 August (BelTA) - Belarus can replace $4-8 billion worth of imported products annually, Director General of the Belarusian Fund for Financial Support of Entrepreneurs Piotr Arushanyants during a meeting with the heads of major Belarusian enterprises hosted by the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE), BelTA reports.

Business matchmaking events to involve small and medium-sized businesses in cooperation chains of large production enterprises are held throughout the country. This work has already become systemic. "They are organized every week. All business entities have the opportunity to meet with representatives of large enterprises and discuss the possibility of receiving orders. BUCE’s import substitution platform is also in demand primarily among small and medium-sized businesses, which are among the most active users of this mechanism," Piotr Arushanyants noted.

According to him, a dozen of transactions are concluded daily, and such mechanisms make it possible to replace imported with domestic products made primarily by small and medium-sized enterprises. "The country has the potential, within the framework of the current technological level, to replace$4-8 billion worth of imports annually. We are talking about industry and construction, medicine, agriculture, transportation and other areas of activity,” Piotr Arushanyants noted. “It is worth noting that those small and medium-sized enterprises that find partners within the framework of business matchmaking events are entitled to financial assistance at preferential rates (from the Belarusian Fund for Financial Support of Entrepreneurs, the Development Bank and other financial institutions)."

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