OREANDA-NEWS. July 28, 2010. At the beginning of the next five-year term Belarus should enter the top 30 countries with the most favorable business terms, said Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky at the ceremony held to award winners of the national contest Best Entrepreneur of 2009.

Sergei Sidorsky said that Belarus had advanced a lot in this direction, improving the business climate in the country by two times within a short time. “We plan to become one of the top 30 countries with the best business terms,” he said.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, the goal is rather ambitious. To reach it, Belarus will need to pass several regulations on taxation and conditions of commodity-money relations. “We should take a stride towards business and do this work however hard it may be for individual government officials,” he said.

For this purpose the Belarusian Government has been instructed to prepare a draft directive to lay down measures that will further liberalize the private initiative. Representatives of the business community have been invited to participate in working out the document. “Now it is up to entrepreneurs. Better business terms on the home market should bring about high GDP growth rates,” said Sergei Sidorsky.

The Prime Minister added that in the near future several regulations will be passed in Belarus to simplify licensing for several business activities. The step will give not just preferences but stability and confidence in tomorrow to the business community, said the Prime Minister. It is recognized by the international experts who are working in Belarus, said Sergei Sidorsky. The efforts aimed at improving the business and investment climate landed Belarus at the 58th position in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business rating.

Small and medium-sized business of Belarus has a great potential. It is mobile and flexible in responding to market trends and creating new jobs, the Prime Minster noted. Private business rivals the public sector economy in terms of the quality of products and services. “Special focus should be made on the development of small business which employs over 20% of economically active population of the country,” Sergei Sidorsky stated.

Last year SMEs accounted for over 11% of GDP, over 9% of the national industrial output and 30% of retail sales and foreign trade.

“These indices are from the world’s best. But the growth trends have remained in places for several years including in the crisis year of 2009,” the head of Government stressed.

Belarus has streamlined supervision activities and slashed the number of inspections with a view to creating a regime which would be friendly for bona fide business entities. “We have eliminated duplicating functions of supervising authorities and are creating a flexible, transparent and business- friendly control system,” he said.

The terms to get tax benefits have been simplified and expanded for all organizations and individual entrepreneurs in rural areas and small regions. The bill “On support of small and medium-sized business” was signed into law on 1 July. These and other documents have been designed to lay the foundation for further successful development of private business and economy in general, Sergei Sidorsky said.

The country continues working on streamlining the tax legislation and simplifying the tax system. “Every year we get these issues addressed and every year it costs the national budget from Br1 trillion to Br2 trillion. These are big indirect investments in the development of small and medium-sized business,” he added.

The Belarusian head of Government reminded that since 1 July Belarus has been part of the single customs territory together with Russia and Kazakhstan. “I am pleased that the Customs Code of the single customs space was written using Belarus’ code as the foundation. I am double pleased that the administrative and customs procedures are based on the Customs Code of Belarus, which is now in effect in the entire space where 170 people live”. It means that Belarus has made effective preparations for entering the Customs Union, said Sergei Sidorsky.

He remarked that the Belarusian government monitors all the processes at external borders. “We virtually operate in the full mode that the customs space uses. It means that we have reached quality new operation of the economy within the framework of three countries,” believes the Prime Minister of Belarus.