OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2011. The draft National export development program for 2011-2015 discussed in a session of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of Belarus on 8 February.

The Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich reminded that according to the decisions adopted by the All-Belarus People’s Congress and instructions of the President, the export of goods should rise 2.2 times during this five-year period, the export of services should increase at least 3 times. It is quite a challenging task, Mikhail Myasnikovich underlined. He noted that Belarus should reduce to zero the foreign trade deficit in 2014 and secure a trade surplus in 2015. The head of Government reminded that this task has been on the government’s agenda for over three five-year periods but has never been fulfilled. “In 2010 the indices were the worst: the commodity trade deficit hit USD 9.7 billion. This figure is extremely bad, it ruins the whole thing and has a bad impact on the work of the foreign exchange market and the real economic sector,” the Premier said.

Mikhail Myasnikovich reminded that the ministries will be responsible for the area of work, while the governors for the region where the work is carried out. Therefore, he pointed to a noticeable difference between export figures for enterprises subordinate to some ministries and for the industries supervised by these ministries. He cited an example of the Industry Ministry. “According to the summary table of the areas of work assigned to the Industry Ministry, the export amounted to USD 15 billion, while the export in the section of the ministry totaled USD 10 billion. It is not a statistical mistake, it is a systemic drawback,” the Premier said. The same is true for the Ministry of Architecture and Construction. Apart from that, there are ministries that do not keep up with the tasks facing the country, Mikhail Myasnikovich added. They include the Healthcare Ministry. For example, the task for the export of medical services by the ministry was much lower than the country’s average. “Who is going to do the rest?” asked Mikhail Myasnikovich.

He pointed to the drawbacks in the regional sections of the draft national export program. Only Minsk offered a precise action plan to fulfill the task. “The Minsk City Hall expects to increase the export five times, which is the highest figure among the regional sections,” the Premier said.

Analyzing other regions, the head of Government noted that, for example, the plans drawn by Mogilev and Brest oblasts are too vague and contain nothing but the words, “expansion”, “enhancement” and “further development”. Vitebsk plans to increase export using its own silicon valley. Grodno is going to boost export by means of offering new-generation sanitizers. “I am just curious what kind of wonderful things will be produced in Grodno,” the Premier asked.

Prime Minister demanded that ministries and other government bodies should take into consideration all the opportunities offered by the Customs Union and the single economic space (SES) while drafting an export strategy.

The head of Government emphasized that this requirement pertains to the Foreign Ministry and the Economy Ministry, first and foremost. Analyzing the draft program, Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that one of its drawbacks is the absence of a separate section on the Customs Union and the single economic space. “I have to say it again that after the SES treaties were ratified the government got complacent and let everything go. I do not see any work going on, the ministries and other bodies responsible for the work show no initiative,” the Premier said.

The head of Government pointed to the drawbacks in the monitoring and supervision of the program. According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, this section is too vague. Addressing the developers of the program, he asked them to be more specific and scrupulous.

The National export development program for 2011-2015 has been developed as part of the major guidelines of the social and economic development program of the Republic of Belarus for 2011-2015 approved at the Fourth All-Belarus People’s Congress.

The major goal of the new program is to ensure the implementation of target parameters fixed in Belarus’ social and economic development program for 2011-2015, i.e. to increase the export of goods and services 2.18-2.22 times and reach foreign trade surplus in goods and services by 2014 through upgrading and enhancing the competitive ability of the economy.

The program is aimed to set up new export-based manufactures, increase profitability of exports and the amount of currency earnings; raise FDI for production upgrading and enhancement of the export potential of the national economy; encourage wider presence of national companies in the global production networks; increase the share of high-technology and science-intensive products with the high value added in the exports, etc.