OREANDA-NEWS. December 9, 2008. Within the next two or three years Belarus can attract billions of dollars in investment, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky said at a session of the Council of Ministers on December 9.

“Within the next two or three years Belarus can attract billions of dollars in investment. This is not a suggestion; these are real projects in the country,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

For that the work on liberalization and debureaucratization of the economy should be sped up especially in the part of cooperation with foreign investors. “The issues which can be tackled during 24 hours have been tabled for months in the ministries,” the Premier said.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, new objects should be deployed at weak enterprises. And it has got to be done quickly.

Speaking about the main near-term goals, the Prime Minister stressed that, first of all, Belarus needs to retain traditional sales markets and find new ones. For example, the last visit of the Belarusian delegation to China showed that there are many reserves to feel comfortable on that market.

It is necessary to continue promoting the effective economic development of the country, first of all, the agricultural industry. “We are not going to reduce agricultural output and to curtail programmes in that area in 2009,” Sergei Sidorsky said. One of the most important tasks is to continue providing support to small and medium-sized business and housing construction programmes, Sergei Sidorsky believes.