President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, while communicating with the employees of the Atlant plant and the members of student teams participating in the "Atlant-2020" project, spoke about the plans for the development of the Belarusian economy in the near future, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, while communicating with the employees of the Atlant plant and the members of student teams participating in the "Atlant-2020" project, spoke about the plans for the development of the Belarusian economy in the near future, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"Our near future will directly depend on these plans. We must compile a list – a state program – which will outline new production facilities. This will be a list of new enterprises," said the head of state.
He stressed that he views reforms precisely as the development and improvement of existing sectors in the country, and the creation of new high-tech production facilities based on them. Another key focus for the upcoming five-year period is import substitution. "I want you to understand that reforms in Belarus, which are being widely discussed during the election campaign, will not be about creating something entirely new, and certainly not about destroying something and then building something new in its place. We will improve what we have. And this will be the essence of reforms in Belarus," the President stated.
Alexander Lukashenko emphasised: it will be sufficient if each enterprise with existing expertise and design capabilities creates and launches the production of at least one new product within the five-year period. "In five years – a thousand enterprises producing one product each, mainly using their own funds, with some assistance from loans where needed, and we won't need anything else. Additionally, we must establish several high-tech production facilities to demonstrate that the country is moving forward and reaching a higher level of development," the head of state stressed.
"We will also plan five-year periods, as before. And the five-year plan will become law. We will specify everything that needs to be done," the President noted.
Alexander Lukashenko noted that such an approach is not retrograde, as clear planning is present in other countries, including world leaders. "Japan is a super-market country, it is one of the largest economies in the world. They have several thousand plans in production, from top to bottom. Everything is planned there," the Belarusian leader noted.
"And take Airbus. Different countries are involved there. Components must be delivered on time, to the minute, to assemble the aircraft. How can this be done without a plan? They plan everything down to the last screw," Alexander Lukashenko remarked.
He said that in Belarus, at one time, in favor of market trends, they moved away from planning in favor of forecasting. "We forecast for five years. And now we will plan. Because a plan is a law. When they planned, they planned to build the Atlant plant in two years and built it. And there was also socialist competition: 'Let's do it ahead of schedule!' And they did," the head of state noted.
The President said that during the past five-year period, many enterprises have been built and modernized in Belarus, including the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, the second phase of the Hi-Tech Park, plants in Svetlogorsk and Grodno, and the first production phase of the Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation. The country has also made significant progress in the development of space technologies and the military-industrial complex.