PRIORITIES
INSIGHTFUL LOOK INTO TOMORROW
T
STRONG REGIONS, INTELLECTUAL ENVIRONMENT, FOCUS ON MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL PARTNERSHIP AND A STRONG FAMILY ARE THE PRIORITIES IN THE DRAFT PROGRAM OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF BELARUS UNTIL 2025
The main directions of the draft Program of the socioeconomic development of the Republic of Belarus for 2021–2025 have already been presented by the main developers of this large-scale document. By the way, not only government agencies, but also business unions, public associations, the scientific and expert community actively participated in its preparation — more than 35 different dialogue platforms and round tables were held in total. Yes, the developers have identified four program priorities — strong regions, intellectual focus of the development, openness to partnership, and a strong family. At the same time, presenting a detailed description of the main directions of the draft program of the socio-economic development, Minister of Economy Aleksandr Chervyakov stressed that the state would continue to maintain its social focus and the growth of people’s well-being would remain the main point: “The main attention will be paid to incomes of the population, employment, prices, housing affordability and high-tech services in healthcare and education. The GDP growth for the five-year period is planned to reach 21.5 percent. Real disposable income of the population will increase by 20 percent, investments — by 22 percent. Exports of goods and services in 2025 will reach more than $50 billion”. The minister outlined another feature of the main program profile as follows: “In the economy, we will continue to develop industrial potential in traditional sectors, i. e. industry and agriculture, but only on a new technological base and digital basis. New high-tech industries and enterprises will be formed”. Speaking about the development priorities, Aleksandr Chervyakov explained that Minsk and regional centers would focus on attracting investments in high-tech production, for which they have both production and research potential. Private business will also join this direction, which, for the implementation of such goals, will be offered unused production sites of state-owned enterprises, participation in import substitution programs and cooperation chains with large industrial enterprises.
6
БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021
Meanwhile, a new organizational structure, i. e. state corporations, is planned to be created in Belarus on the basis of amalgamation of production chains. At the initial stage, the creation of seven such corporations in the industrial sector is being considered. The prospects for the first pilot state corporation for agricultural machine building have already been worked out, it will unite about thirty enterprises with a total revenue of more than 3 billion rubles. It is planned to become a significant player in the global agricultural machinery market. In the new five-year plan, Belarus will undergo clustering, i. e. an innovation that brings together science, private business and large companies with the purpose of developing an innovative product. In total, 13 clusters are planned to be created. At the same time, family capital is growing. The focus is on a person, the standard and quality of his/her life, emphasizes the Minister of Labor and Social Protection Irina Kostevich. In other words, the priority is a happy family. According to Irina Kostevich, the family capital program, which has already proved its effectiveness, will continue to develop. Besides, there will be additional incentives for the birth of second and subsequent children in families. Among them is the solution of a housing problem, reintegration of mothers into the labor market, flexible patterns of employment. The possibility of extending the program to the birth of second children is also being considered.
