Republic

Government okays this year’s small business support programme

The Belarusian government has approved a small business state support programme for 2006. A corresponding decision is laid down in Council of Ministers resolution #128 of February 1, 2006. The programme is meant to eliminate causes and factors that hinder the development of small business and reinforce priority directions of the small business state support. To reach the goals, the programme provides for improving the legislation that regulates handicraft business of juridical and natural persons and entrepreneurs. The programme also provides for making loans more affordable for small business entities, partially by introducing new bank credit instruments and attracting foreign loans. The programme also provides for developing industrial cooperation between small business entities, setting up a database about production capabilities of the companies and their demands for products and services. The measure is expected to contribute to a less time-consuming search for partners for Belarusian companies. Small business information support and formation of a dedicated Internet resource will continue. The programme also lists information support of small business export operations. The programme provides for expanding international cooperation in the field, improving the system of personnel training for small business. The central state budget is supposed to allocate some Br 611 million for the programme implementation. On the whole, the programme is expected to increase the share of small business in product sales proceeds by 30 per cent by the end of the year. The number of small business entities will reach 34,000 people, with the small business share making 14.5 per cent of the economically active population.