30 May 2008
Cabinet drafts additional measures to boost investment
The Belarusian Council of Ministers has drafted additional measures to increase investment and improve business environment in the country, Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Kabyakow said at a meeting of the Advisory Council on Foreign Investment on Friday.
"Eleven documents aimed at improving investment activity and business environment are at the final stage of approval," he said. "An action plan for investment environment improvement, which has been adopted by the government, contains 28 paragraphs of which 15 have already been fulfilled."
The vice premier said that investment was to increase to up to 30 percent of Belarus` GDP this year, noting that GDP was projected to increase by 11 percent and fixed capital expenditures by 25 percent in 2008 compared with the previous year.
There are more than 4,200 companies in the country with foreign capital contributed by investors in 68 countries. Among major investors are Russia, Britain, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
Direct foreign investment reportedly increased from $200 million in 2005 to more than $1.2 billion in 2007. "Serious investment inflows are observed in the banking sphere," Mr. Kabyakow said. Out of 28 banks in Belarus, 23 reportedly involve foreign capital.
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