The Belarusian head of government said such enterprises resolve import substitution problems well. At present a lot of imports are available on the home market while they can be produced locally by small private enterprises. The central and local government will support it by all means, creating the necessary conditions to develop these enterprises, he stressed.
Major Belarusian enterprises should “sprout” small ones that can be used in the technology cycle and can even manufacture end products for the home and foreign markets, Mikhail Myasnikovich is convinced. For now the number of such enterprises in Belarus is low. Yet it is a global trend to use small companies to make components for larger products.
The Prime Minister remarked that ZAO Belaseptika and ZAO Belrobot are fine examples of a full technology cycle from idea to end products. These enterprises may employ few workers but they are extremely important for the national economy, he stressed.
The enterprises are located in a former military camp. It can be considered as a priority for accommodating small businesses, said Mikhail Myasnikovich. He pointed out excellent training of the personnel. They will be involved in import substitution as much as possible. “I have seen several products that can be produced in Belarus independently or by such enterprises through manufacturing cooperation schemes. I think it has a great future,” said the Prime Minister.
In 2007-2011 the share of private sector in the GDP increased from 53.1% to 64.9%. The SME share in the GDP amounted to 21.7% in 2011. The share of SME payments to the state budget reached 27.8% in 2011, with the share of juridical persons at 25.4%.
While in 2007 private sector employed 49.3% of all the employees, in 2011 the figure reached 56.6%. All in all, in 2011 the private sector employed 2.6 million Belarusians, including over 1.5 million people working for SMEs.
