Small and medium-sized business should generate at least 50% of Belarus’ GDP by 2020, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Piotr Prokopovich said as he opened a seminar on the development of small and medium-sized business in Belarus on 26 March, BelTA has learnt.

Piotr Prokopovich noted that SMEs employ 1.5 million people in Belarus. They also generate 25% of the country’s GDP. By 2015 the figure is to increase up to 30%, while by the end of the next five-year period it should account for at least half of GDP. Therefore, it is important to find out what hampers the development of SMEs and what should be done to improve the business environment and give a boost to entrepreneurship in Belarus, Piotr Prokopovich said.

According to the Vice Premier, small and medium-sized business plays an increasingly important role in the domestic economy. “Taking into consideration that small and medium-sized companies are more mobile and able to respond faster to the changing market environment and customer needs, they outpace and outcompete even big companies. SMEs offer jobs to people who were dismissed as a result of the modernization of large companies. SMEs produce a great variety of consumer goods, thus contributing to Belarus’ import-substitution effort. The last but not the least, SMEs absorb household incomes. It is an open secret that the richer households become, the more products and services we need to produce and offer them. Otherwise, we will have to import these commodities, thus hurting our own economy. Therefore, it is crucial to provide all kinds of assistance to small and medium-sized business. In the next 6-7 years the output of SMEs should expand 3-4 times,” Piotr Prokopovich said.


 

Belta