Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 12 December (BelTA) – In the course of implementing Union State programs Belarus and Russia primarily focus on creating innovative products, BelTA learned from Aleksei Kubrin, Deputy State Secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, during the second congress of Belarusian scientists on 12 December.

Aleksei Kubrin said: “High technologies allow creating competitive products, which can enable high living standards for the citizens. This is why using cutting-edge technologies, creating innovative products are the tasks the Belarusian science faces today. As for Union State programs, they cannot cover the entire spectrum, this is why we should choose only high-tech branches for the sake of creating innovative products without an equal in the world. Every Union State program produces concrete technologies, which are already successfully used in practice. For instance, the programs Kompozit and Kompomat have resulted in over 100 new patents and the development of about 100 commercial prototypes.”

The official remarked that today Belarus and Russia carry out joint research projects in areas such as chemistry and petrochemistry, healthcare, agribusiness, and space technologies. “Our cooperation will be discussed during the congress today and tomorrow. I think we have chosen the right directions of joint work,” added the deputy state secretary of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.

Aleksei Kubrin also drew attention to the importance of development of the draft strategy Science and Technologies 2018-2040, which participants of the congress of Belarusian scientists are supposed to discuss. “Determining the strategy is very important for the future development of science, the production sector, and the national economy. Determining priority avenues allows correctly choosing mechanisms and instruments for reaching goals, for enabling most comfortable conditions for the development of the society. An entire range of economic and social matters is part of it. Healthcare, education, and production sector cannot grow better without scientific support,” he stressed.

The panel session on international scientific cooperation took place as part of the second congress of Belarusian scientists on 12 December. Scientists from various countries discussed mechanisms of expanding cooperation along the most promising avenues of science development.

The second congress of Belarusian scientists is scheduled to take place in Minsk on 12-13 December. About 2,600 people, including foreign guests, are taking part in the event. On the first day of the congress the delegates and invited guests are working in nine panel sessions dedicated to the main directions of science development. A theme exhibition has been arranged as part of each session.

The plenary session is scheduled for 13 December. A general interagency exhibition of eight clusters relating to the most important tasks of Belarusian science and corresponding to international technology development trends (information technologies, artificial intelligence, electric transport, unmanned vehicles, chemical technologies, biotechnologies, and other ones) will be opened during the plenary session.

The draft strategy Science and Technologies: 2018-2040 is the key item on the agenda of the second congress of Belarusian scientists. The strategy determines priorities of long-term development of science and technologies and offers a set of instruments to improve the science and technology sphere. The document is supposed to enable new quality of economic growth in Belarus. It will help Belarus reach the international level in a number of areas in the future. The strategy has been put together by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus taking into account remarks and proposals from government agencies, working groups, and individual scientists. The strategy’s implementation is supposed to up the share of science in the GDP up to 3%. The share of breakthrough R&D will reach 30% of the total volume, with the share of high-tech sectors in the structure of the national economy up to 10%. Innovative products are expected to account for 25% of the total output of Belarusian industrial enterprises.