Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 11 October (BelTA) – In 2017 trade turnover between Moscow and Belarus can reach $6.5 billion. The statement was made by Sergei Cheremin, Minister of the Moscow Government, Head of the Foreign Economic and International Relations Department of the city of Moscow, BelTA has learned.

The Embassy of Belarus in Russia quoted Sergei Cheremin as saying that Belarus has every chance of outracing Germany in a year.

According to Sergei Cheremin, Moscow is interested in getting Belarusian products made in the Russian capital. Moscow technoparks, industrial clusters, and technopolises are available for setting up the enterprises. Belarusian innovative products will also be welcomed there.

Representatives of the embassy of Belarus in Russia said that a Moscow-Minsk business cooperation forum took place in the Business and Cultural Complex of the Embassy of Belarus in Russia on 11 October as part of the Minsk Days in Moscow. The forum gathered over 150 participants.

During the opening ceremony Minsk City Mayor Andrei Shorets noted that the forum should contribute to the further rapprochement of the two cities, to the establishment of partnerships in the private sector, and to the emergence of new contacts.

Sergei Cheremin underlined that Belarus is a reliable and stable partner for Moscow. There are about 350 Belarusian companies operating in Moscow. Moscow buys a lot of utility vehicles for its own needs. Specialists of the Minsk metro construction company Minskmetrostroy are busy building the Solntsevo line of the Moscow metro system with good results.

Chairman of the Economy Committee of the Minsk City Executive Committee Nikolai Rogashchuk presented Minsk’s trade, industrial, and investment potential. He reminded that over 4,000 industrial enterprises operate in Minsk. They account for 25% of the country’s output. About 70% of Minsk enterprises are certified for compliance with international standards. As much as 50% of the industrial output is exported.

Nikolai Rogashchuk went on saying that Belkommunmash, one of the largest electric transport manufacturers in the Commonwealth of Independent States, is accountable to the city administration. The company has started making a new electric bus, which is described as a green solution for the 21^st century mass transit system due to the lack of harmful emissions. The electronics manufacturer Integral Company is growing larger. The official also gave words of praise to the household appliances manufacturer Horizont and the refrigerator maker Atlant. Minsk is home to most of Belarus’ scientific and industrial potential.

In January-August 2017 Minsk-made goods were exported to 136 countries, including 18 new markets. The growing interest in Minsk on the part of foreign companies is confirmed by the rising number of companies with foreign capital. Thousands of investment projects in various spheres of economy are being implemented in Minsk.

Nikolai Rogashchuk stressed that the overall investment climate of Belarus and Minsk can be described as one of the best in the CIS space and as a rather favorable one in comparison with the global background. The fact is confirmed by ratings assigned by respected international organizations and by specific work terms.

Three panel sessions were held as part of the forum to discuss big city infrastructure, smart cities and technologies, and healthcare tourism, rehabilitation tourism, and cultural tourism in Minsk. Specialists shared their best practices in ways to reduce energy consumption in residential buildings, in peculiarities of designing and building metro systems in complicated urban conditions, in organizing parking lots and an integral transport scheme, in restoring ancient buildings in downtown areas, in applying modern deformation-resistant materials for repairing and building roads.

The website for booking tourism services in Belarus and the Minsk Guest Card were presented before the Moscow participants of the forum.