I. Improvement of Industrial Competitiveness
Improvement of national economic competitiveness, first of all, is to improve industrial competitiveness, because the development of industrial level can create favorable conditions for the development of other industries. The improvement of industrial competitiveness in the Second Five-Year Plan should be carried out on the basis of technological transformation and industrial modernization of the production industry, and at the same time carry out the reform of the enterprise management institutions; the key development of the production industry should be the use of local resources, such as: timber and timber processing industry, pulp and paper industry, the construction materials industry, etc.; in order to improve the quality of the product based on increasing the number of optics and optical machinery, apparatus and equipment, computers, household electrical appliances, chemicals, medical equipment, and so on, and to improve the quality of the products. household appliances, chemicals, medical equipment and other products.
In addition, the active development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is being pursued through such measures as:
formulating guidelines and policies to support the development of SMEs and providing legal guarantees for their business activities;
establishing conditions for SMEs to rationally utilize their loan funds, including the development of microcredit institutions, streamlining the process of microcredit, and adopting mechanisms for guaranteeing repayment; providing the necessary information resources, the results of scientific and technological research, and high-tech products. scientific and technological research results, high technology, and also improve the method of training workers of small and medium-sized enterprises;
Actively develop the production, innovation, investment and foreign trade of small and medium-sized enterprises, improve their competitiveness, and enhance their export capacity;
Exploit the establishment of an effective way of cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises.
By 2010, SMEs will account for 20-22% of GDP.
II. Accelerating Agricultural Development
The main purpose of agricultural development is to establish an effective, stable and competitive system of agricultural products and food production, so as to ensure the security of the national food supply, with the explicit goal of meeting market demand and improving the standard and quality of life of farmers.
Specific measures include:
Improving the competitiveness of agricultural products in both domestic and foreign markets;
Researching and adopting new technologies and equipment for the production, processing and storage of agricultural products (e.g. improving the process of cleaning and drying grains);
Creating high-yielding and stable varieties of plants (e.g., potatoes, flax, oilseed rape, sugar beets, cereal and fodder crops, vegetables, etc.) and species of animals. etc.) and species of animals, including the use of genetic engineering techniques;
Building a system of rational use of soil resources, effective prevention of soil degradation, conservation of resources and restoration of land fertility;
Guaranteeing the financial stability of the agricultural organization and provision of a wide range of social services required by farmers;
Improving the role of the private economy in the system of food production.
III. Expansion of Foreign Exports
The objectives of the development of foreign trade are to expand exports, rationalize imports, close relations with the world market, implement an effective foreign trade policy related to macroeconomic and industrial policies; and to improve and refine the mechanisms for the management and regulation of foreign economic activities.
Strengthening the competitiveness of traditional Belarusian export enterprises on the world market, reducing the cost of production of export products, adopting new technologies and bringing export products into line with international standards;
Expansion of the export of knowledge-intensive and high-tech products on the basis of consolidation of traditional exports (trucks, tractors, petrochemicals, linen, etc.), as well as an increase in the production of import substitutes;
Increase in the production of import-substitution products;
Increase in the production of import-substitutes; and
The establishment of new export-oriented enterprises on the basis of the results of national scientific and technological research and the expansion of technological exports;
Active use of new methods of trade (the establishment of Belarusian business companies abroad, the creation of technological service centers, and the establishment of representative offices of enterprises) and the attraction of foreign financial resources, including direct foreign investment;
At the same time, the continued development of the export of services is one of the channels for increasing foreign exchange earnings. exports is one of the channels for increasing foreign exchange earnings. The focus in trade in services is on the development of transportation services as well as services of market economy institutions (banking, insurance, legal, marketing, information, etc.).
IV. Strengthening international cooperation
In foreign economic relations, the first priority is to unite and cooperate with Russia, and at the same time to strengthen cooperation with other CIS countries.
The development of cooperative relations with Russia in the future will be carried out primarily within the framework of the United States; the establishment of a ****similar economic space on the basis of the development of free trade, the improvement of means of payment, the unification of science and technology, the expansion of channels of investment, joint transportation, and cooperation in information and energy.
Cooperative relations with other non-CIS countries will ensure the balance of foreign trade, stabilization and expansion of export markets; and at the same time complete the process of accession to the WTO.
Cooperation with international financial and economic organizations (e.g., the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Eurobank, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, etc.) will attract complementary loans to provide financial and technical support for the development of the country's economy, and expand the participation of the international community in solving the long-term socio-economic, scientific-technical and medical problems of the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
V. Stabilization of money and prices
The strategic goal of the monetary and lending policy for 2006-2010 is to ensure the effective regulation of the monetary and lending system in order to ensure stable growth of the economy, the population's income and investments.
The monetary and lending policy will help to reduce the level of inflation, stabilize the Belarusian rouble, and improve the quality of services provided by banking institutions;
The rate of increase in the country's money supply will vary in accordance with the needs of the economy and the inflation index, and the level of inflation in 2010 should be no more than 5 per cent, with the total volume of bank loans increasing by 1.7 times;
Continuing mutually beneficial cooperation between Belarus and other CIS countries in the monetary and banking spheres, especially joint cooperation with Russia.
The main directions of price policy are to establish a price system combining free and adjustable prices, to reduce price imbalances; to prevent, limit and stop monopolistic behavior of economic agents and state management bodies, and to create conditions for effective competition in all sectors.
The Second Five-Year Plan foresees that by 2010 several major economic indicators will grow by 46-55 percent over 2005: GDP - 46-55 percent, industry - 43-51 percent, agriculture - 34-45 percent, foreign trade - 53-60 percent, and Income of the population - 52-58%, and the Belarusian job market will remain at a low level into the period of the Third Five-Year Plan.
According to the statistics of the International Labor Organization, the number of unemployed in the CIS countries totals 10 million, or 7.7% of the economically active population. It is expected that by the end of the year the number of unemployed will reach 11-15 million, or 8-10% of the economically active population, which will cause a slow decline in the labor market and an increase in the number of poor people.
At present the highest unemployment rate in the CIS countries is in Armenia - 7%, the lowest is in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Kazakhstan - 1% and 1.1%, Russia is in the middle - 2.8%. The best maintained job market is in Belarus.
One of the reasons for the high number of unemployed people in Tajikistan is the return of many labor migrants to the country as a result of the financial crisis, which puts pressure on the domestic labor market.
In January-July this year, real wages increased only in Azerbaijan, while in the rest of the CIS countries wages fell by 2.2-2.9%. According to statistics, more than 16 million workers in the CIS are paid below the minimum subsistence level. The largest number of working poor is in Kyrgyzstan - 66%, followed by Moldova - 31% and Ukraine - 15%. The lowest indices are in Kazakhstan - 3 percent and Belarus - 5 percent.
According to expert analysis, the recent development of the CIS countries is not optimistic, it is expected that in 2012 the national economy fell by an average of 3.8-9%, and in 2010 the GDP of the CIS countries will grow by 1-3.1%. But the process of recovery of economic growth will be very slow and may not provide a lot of jobs, and it is expected that the situation of unemployment and poverty will not change and is expected to increase to 30-35 million people.