OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2012. Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko wants senior government officials to put more effort into accelerating exports of Belarusian-made products.

“I have repeatedly instructed the government, regional administrations, and certain executives that instead of entering external markets, we must burst into them. We should adopt an aggressive approach and use every opportunity to win new niches. Everyone must put on harness and get down to work,” Lukashenko said Friday at a government conference focused on exports.

Lukashenko emphasized that the country’s economic wellbeing depends on exports. The president challenged the government to work hard to diversify exports and produce a foreign trade surplus.

The president put special emphasis on exports proceeds: manufacturers must make sure their export proceeds return to Belarus. “This is what we have gathered here today. You may even not sell anything, but make sure money keeps rolling in,” Lukashenko said.

As previously reported, Belarusian companies’ foreign currency proceeds reduced 18.1% on the year in September 2012 to USD 3.614 billion, reaching their minimum level in 2012.

In September companies’ foreign currency proceeds from commodity exports reduced 20.1% month on month down to USD 3.066 billion and FX proceeds from service exports reduced 4.4% down to USD 458.9 million.

Proceeds from domestic trade for foreign exchange went down 12.4% to USD 46 million, income proceeds reduced 7% to USD 11.3 million, and transfer proceeds went down 2.4% to USD 32.1 million.

At the same time, Belarusian companies’ foreign currency proceeds increased 17.2% on the year in January-September 2012 to USD 39.289 billion.