business environment
Attractive prospects for investors
Changes are expected in the work of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park, which is located near Minsk, which, according to experts, will make the Great Stone even more attractive Time to update the rules First of all, it should be noted that the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was first presented with a draft decree aimed at improvement of the investment climate in the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park Great Stone. As the head of the park administration Alexander Yaroshenko told reporters, the President approved the proposed changes. Moreover, the decree itself was signed soon. Among the key changes are the simplification of administrative procedures, provision of more independence to the management bodies of the park, expansion of its types of activities, and support of start-ups. "They are aimed at simplification, de-bureaucratization of doing business, attraction of investors to the Great Stone project," — noted Alexander Yaroshenko. So, the administration of the Great Stone will first of all be transferred additional powers of local authorities. Nearly 60 new administrative procedures will be overseen by the park's one-station service center. This will increase the speed and efficiency of the decisions taken. — The use of existing standards allowed us to reduce the construction term several times, — said Alexander Yaroshenko. — For example, MAZ-Weichai joint project was built in record time, in eight months,
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and is now actively producing products. The situation is similar for many other enterprises, which allows us to move quickly in decision-making. In total, the administration will have about 90 procedures of an administrative and licensing nature. This is almost half of the procedures that are required for doing business anywhere in Belarus. In addition, in the Great Stone all administrative procedures are carried out in electronic form and they strive to ensure that the maximum number of them are carried out without paper carriers, that is, they try to introduce literally a digital regime. It must be said that the composition of the subjects served in the "one station" is also expanding. Not only residents will be able to use its services, but also all companies operating in the park, as well as individuals who live or work here. In accordance with the new decree, it is planned to expand the main activities of the industrial park Great Stone in order to increase the circle of attracted investors. Among new directions are the production of medical products, medical services, laboratory diagnostics, and biopharmaceuticals. One of the residents of the park has already planned a project on creation of a center for traditional Chinese
medicine. Also, Alexander Yaroshenko considers the use of 5G technologies a promising area. "We already had such a pilot project. With the adoption of the new decree, a legal basis for the implementation of 5G and artificial intelligence will appear," – explained he. Green light for innovation It is worth recalling that at the end of 2020, a center for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements was opened in the Great Stone. This is a joint BelarusianChinese project. In accordance with it, during the first two years, various startups will be able to enjoy all the main benefits of park residents, while they themselves will not be residents of the Great Stone. "On a competitive basis, having selected the appropriate project, six months after the incubation, we will look at the intermediate results. If they are positive, then we let this project grow from an idea into a commercial project and the opportunity to become a resident of the park," – said the head of the park administration. Alexander Yaroshenko noted that the sphere of innovations is very risky. If startups are not supported, then, as a rule, only one in ten projects survives. If the state and investors help young companies, then the survival rate reaches 70-80 percent.
