OREANDA-NEWS. July 26, 2010. Belarus’ Gross Domestic Product growth rate should account for 62-68% in the period from 2011 to 2015, Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said at a session of the National organizational committee in charge of the preparation of the 4th All-Belarus People’s Assembly.

Considering the fact that Belarus has scarce mineral resources, the GDP growth should be fueled by large-scale accelerated modernization of the economy and through the creation of new breakthrough manufactures, Sergei Sidorsky believes. The economy is heavily dependent on the import of energy resources, raw materials. “The reality is that we need to make a living from high qualifications, intellect of specialists, resource-effective high-technology manufactures with high added value,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

This will enable us to increase real earnings of people by 70-76% in the next five years including “average monthly wages up to USD1,000 and raise pensions, benefits and scholarships,” the Prime Minister said.

In the next five years the Government will prioritize quality parameters of the economic growth, the Prime Minister underscored. “Above all, these are return on sales, growth of labor productivity and export of commodities and services,” he added.

The social and economic program for the next five years introduces an index of investment on a net basis, according to Sergei Sidorsky. “The volume of investment has been USD1-1.5 billion annually in recent years. This is not enough for efficient economic development. We introduce the index of foreign direct investment on a net basis in the amount of up to USD7 billion annually,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

The measures in the monetary-credit and budget-tax areas are designed to stabilize the macro-economic situation: reduce inflation, ensure stability of the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble, decrease the tax burden, and streamline tax payment rules.

he Belarusian Government is working on a system of measures to enhance the international rankings of the country. In the next five years Belarus is set to make it to the top thirty countries with the best business conditions and to vault from 183rd position to 30-50th in taxation rating.
The country is going to switch into trade surplus by 2015 by pursuing an aggressive foreign trade and import-substitution policy. Export of commodities is projected to double in the next five years.

Sergei Sidorsky singled out the national innovation development program for the next five years. According to him, the funding of research and development will be increased by 6.5-7 times. “This goal is very ambitious. Financial resources channeled into science should increase multifold and overflow into the real production sector,” he added.