On September 21, Minsk / Lilia Krapivina - BELTA /. The Ministry of Industry of Belarus is taking measures to increase the tariff protection of its manufacturers. This was announced today by the Minister of Industry of Belarus Dmitry Katerinich during a video briefing on the website of the National Press Center, BELTA correspondent reports. "Russia joined the WTO on August 23, and for this purpose, we must pay more attention to both the harmonization of legislation and the tariff protection of our enterprises," the minister said. "Currently, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have submitted a number of proposals to increase tariff rates on products such as elevators, electric motors, and many other items." According to him, the economic integration of the three countries - Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan - has united their markets, and Belarus has undoubtedly benefited, as it has gained a larger market and become more attractive to investors. "But, frankly speaking, Russia's accession to the WTO has opened up access for goods, primarily from European countries and others. Competition from them in the Russian and Kazakh markets has intensified," he stated. In this regard, enterprises of the Ministry of Industry are engaged in market diversification, and they have quite ambitious plans for developing markets in South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Cambodia. It is planned to build factories in Pakistan, Cambodia, and South Africa. Despite this, the share of the Russian market for the Ministry of Industry remains very large, the minister believes. Therefore, increased competition in this market is expected. To this end, measures are currently being taken, and programs have been developed to increase the competitiveness of products. "In our opinion, only solving this problem can preserve our share in the Russian and Kazakh markets," he said.-0-

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