Vice PM: Belarus should export 85% of output

         Belarus should strive to export 85% of produce, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, Chairman of the Council for Entrepreneurship Development Piotr Prokopovich said at the session of the Council in Dzerzhinsk. “In order to compete successfully on the market and secure a foothold there, we need to export 65% of products today, while tomorrow the figure should rise to 85%. We have to import raw materials and supplies, which means that we need to export a lot, too. Therefore, everything we import should be later sold in the form of export products,” Piotr Prokopovich said.
       Private business should play a prominent role here, he underlined. “You have more opportunities than others to introduce modern technologies and new managerial solutions; you know how to work in the market environment; therefore, it is important to make the most of it,” he said. Promotion of small business in the regions is particularly relevant. In some district capitals the private sector accounts for 60% of tax revenues. Despite the tough competition, the number of SMEs is increasing year to year; their number expands by 10-20% every year. It means that they are able and willing to do business there, the Vice Premier said. “We need to come to grips with the issues that are holding them back,” he stressed.