December 14, 06

NEWS / Belarus needs over USD202 million of foreign technical aid in 2006-2010

Belarus needs over USD202 million of foreign technical aid for present and future projects in 2006-2010. The funds are required to implement 74 projects laid down by the 2006-2010 national programme for international technical co-operation. The document was approved by Council of Ministers resolution No. 1644 of December 9, 2006.

BelTA learnt from the economy ministry, which coordinates the programme, it is an indicative document, which outlines Belarus need for foreign technical aid. The programme??™s primary purpose is to attract external resources for the sustainable social and economic development of the country. The programme determines main directions of the state policy in getting the foreign technical aid. The document also lists the country??™s present and future need for the aid.

The projects are supposed to be funded with money of international technical aid donors. The projects will be co-funded by Belarus??™ central state and local budgets, innovation funds of national state administration bodies, proprietary funds of juridical persons and citizens. The programme also provides for other funding sources, which do not contradict the country??™s legislation.

The foundation of the national policy in the international technical aid field is based on the 2006-2010 national social and economic development programme, a strategy designed to guide Belarus??™ social and economic development up to 2020 and other programmes. Implementing the first programme, Belarus takes part in international economic relations and the international technical co-operation.

Defining and searching for additional resources able to satisfy the country??™s needs are primary tasks, which need to be accomplished to secure the sustainable social and economic development. An instruction was issued to fix negative factors such as weak market institutions and infrastructure, insufficient level of the innovation industry and to overcome the high materials consumption and energy consumption of the manufactured products.

In view of Belarus??™ current potential the Council of Ministers in co-operation with donors of the international technical aid suggests creating additional conditions for transition to the innovation-based way of the sustainable social and economic development taking into account the best international practices and attracting additional resources in order to accomplish some tasks. The plan is meant to address the intellectual and physical development of people, increase real cash incomes of the population and decrease the number of poor Belarusians, improve the demographic situation. The transition to the innovation-based development is supposed to utilise the development and implementation of effective innovation and investment projects, free-of-charge handover of technologies to Belarus. Experience of other countries is studied, first of all, the experience in the services sphere, primarily the education, healthcare, culture as the basis for effective accumulation and utilisation of the human potential as well as telecommunication, information, finance, insurance and other kinds of services. The level of environmental protection is supposed to increase. A new approach to alleviating Chernobyl catastrophe problems will be used.

The tasks are supposed to be handled with the maximum possible utilisation of domestic resources, first of all, via innovative capabilities of the economy and the country??™s human potential.

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