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Trade minister urges to support domestic producers instead of fighting against import

MINSK, 1 April (BelTA) – In order to increase the share of domestic goods on the market, it is necessary to create a system to support and promote domestic producers instead of fighting against import, Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich told reporters following the meeting with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, BelTA has learned.

According to the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade (MART), Belarus-made products account for 77% of foodstuffs and about 43% of non-food products sold in Belarus. Their share in total trade is about 60%. “We look good against the EAEU countries who keep such records. We could say that this situation is not bad, if not for the downward trends that have been taking shape in recent years,” the minister said.

“We are in no way going to ban things. This problem was discussed with the president. It was agreed that we will not challenge imports by keeping them off the shelves. Instead we will establish mechanisms to support domestic producers, stimulate production and create competitive goods for trade and our own technological processes,” Vladimir Koltovich said.

Now the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade together with the ministries of industry, economy and the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is working on the definition of the notion of ‘domestic goods’ in order to further improve the public procurement system with a focus on Belarus-made goods.

“We told the president that we would like to use the increase in the localization of production as an element of protecting the domestic market. In other words, we want Belarusian products to have more Belarus-made components,” the minister said.

A similar system became operational on the EAEU market this year: a list of goods with a high level of localization has been drafted for public procurement purposes in the EAEU, and 43 Belarusian enterprises are included in the list. “We would like to apply this principle at home - a higher level of localization offers a broader access to public procurement, tenders and other types of benefits,” Vladimir Koltovich explained.

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