The business forum 'State and Business: Partnership for Sustainable Development' is taking place in Vitebsk.
– One of the goals of sustainable development is partnership between business and the state. The share of investments – 35% – is formed by the entrepreneurial sector. Our business is export-oriented and focused on import substitution. For example, more than 90 import substitution projects are currently being implemented, including in cooperation with Russia. The share of small and medium-sized businesses in exports of goods is 80%, and in services – 65%. Small and medium-sized businesses generate one-third of budget revenues, – noted the Deputy Chairperson of the Regional Executive Committee, Anzhelika Nikitina. – More active entrepreneurs are found in small regions. They strive to employ themselves, involve their children, neighbors, colleagues, etc., in this process. While Polotsk, Orsha, Vitebsk, and Novopolotsk are forming large businesses that grow within the framework of the entrepreneurship development program, the service sector is actively developing in Dubrovno, Chashniki, Rossony, Ushachi, and other smaller towns.
The forum is attended not only by representatives of large businesses but also by educational institutions, universities, colleges, small and micro-businesses, the Belarusian Women's Union, and individual entrepreneurs.
– Today, people are involved in business not only from their school years but also from kindergarten. Schools promote the idea of developing this area through the sale of their products, hobby clubs, etc. There are quite interesting projects that are relevant to the region, considering its tourism potential and opportunities in the development of light industry, – added Anzhelika Nikitina.
At the plenary session, the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Economy of the Regional Executive Committee, Elena Borzdyko, spoke about the sustainable development strategy of the Vitebsk region until 2040.
– We see the future in technologies in harmony with nature. The strategy is based on the implementation of key priorities, the main one of which is the person, in whose interests we will solve the set tasks. In the real sector of the economy, this is the creation of high-tech industries, including the use of raw materials, which ensure a decent salary level based on education obtained in the region. This, of course, is the formation of an environment for the growth of entrepreneurial and innovative activity, – noted Elena Borzdyko. – For the sustainable development of regions, districts with a population of over 80 thousand will develop as industrial sites and create new production facilities. By the end of the five-year plan, within the framework of the "One Region – One Project" initiative, 30 production facilities will be created. These are mainly food, light industry, and tourism sectors.
In agriculture, the prospect lies in the implementation of digitalization, automation, the creation of new livestock facilities, and the use of new technologies in crop production, which will help retain personnel in rural areas, and the development of infrastructure and housing construction in the cities and villages of the future will create conditions for their residence. Among the positive examples is the digital platform for precision farming operating in Mazolovogaz of Vitebsk district.
– Tourism development with the active involvement of small and medium-sized businesses and the population will give a new life to rural territories. All conditions for this are available, – said Elena Borzdyko.
The priority direction of industrial development is innovation, automation, robotization, and digitalization of all processes. As an example, in the light industry, there is a project to implement robotic complexes at "Belvest". OJSC "Vitebskiye Kovry" and Orsha Linen Mill are actively implementing digitalization. There is a prospect for the development of mechanical engineering, where 48 enterprises, in close cooperation with Russian manufacturers and our giants, produce more than 4.5 thousand types of equipment and components. "Vitstroytekmash" acts as the flagship here. The strategy also emphasizes the development of electric transport and energy infrastructure.
– Taking into account competencies, we are focusing on the development of pharmaceutical and biotechnologies. Our region has an excellent educational and scientific base with high-tech production facilities for medical and veterinary drugs. Over the past five years, Vitebsk region has doubled its production volumes in this sector. The production of over 600 types of drugs has been mastered, – noted Elena Borzdyko. – The approaches developed for agricultural development will allow for the full utilization of the production capacities of food industry enterprises and the processing of more than a million tons of milk and 60 thousand tons of meat per year, as well as increasing the export potential in this area. In addition, one of the important sectors is woodworking. A large-scale project for the production of high value-added products with timber processing volumes of at least one million cubic meters per year is being worked out at the government level.
Also, within the framework of the forum, small and medium-sized businesses of the Vitebsk region were awarded.