29 April, Grodno /Olga Kozlovich - BELTA/. The necessity for serious structural reforms has become apparent in Belarus's economy. This was stated today by the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, Anatoly Tozik, during a seminar for heads of republican mass media, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "I believe that our economy can no longer develop successfully in its current format and requires serious structural reforms," said the Deputy Prime Minister. According to him, profound economic transformations in Belarus must be carried out while preserving and strengthening the current political system. "My experience working in China confirms this: many Southeast Asian countries have achieved colossal economic success, and they were able to do so only with the help of strong political power," he noted. Anatoly Tozik pointed out that the recently concluded five-year period has been a time of trials and realisation of the need for transformation of the economic model for Belarus. The financial and economic crisis has shown that the economic model built in Belarus is capable of ensuring the country's development. At the same time, this model requires further improvement. "Maximum effort had to be made to overcome this period, and we have overcome it; it forced us to rethink the situation and prompted the need for profound changes," said the Deputy Head of Government. The Deputy Prime Minister, in particular, noted that Belarusian producers have begun to lose competitiveness in foreign markets. The rise in energy prices has also impacted enterprises. "We need to stop living beyond our means, which is precisely what we have been doing in recent years, consuming 10-13% more than we produced," he added. "We cannot develop normally if we do not ensure the competitiveness of our products." Anatoly Tozik noted that one of the most important tasks is to achieve a positive foreign trade balance by the end of the current five-year period. Significant GDP growth must be ensured, exports of goods must be doubled, and exports of services must be almost tripled. Serious tasks are also set in the area of attracting foreign investment, including direct investment. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, if these extremely complex economic tasks are resolved, it will allow Belarus to ensure a decent standard of living for its people in the European context.-0-

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