Key Facts About Belarus

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Key Facts About Belarus
Official Name Republic of Belarus Total land
area of Belarus 207,600 km² Nationality of
Belarus population - 9.465,2 mln the Capital is
Minsk - 1.885,1 mln Languages Belarusian,
Russian Regional centers of Belarus Grodno,
Vitebsk, Mogilev, Gomel, Brest Currency
Belarusian Rouble (Br)
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Main Business Partners
the Netherlands
Russia
Ukraine
Germany
China
Poland
Venezuela
Brazil
Italy
Latvia
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Main Branches of Belarusian Industry
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Number of people in employment 4.6 million
(2011) Distribution of employed population across
economic sectors (2011)
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Why to Locate Your Business in Belarus?
Foreign investment in Belarus has risen 13 times
and trade with Belarus  - 4 times since 2002
The investment climate in Belarus is a bit
surprising, in a positive way. December 2011/
January 2012
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• Geographical location
• Economic stability
• Favorable investment climate
• Highly skilled workforce
• Industrially developed economy

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The Business Environment

• In Belarus there are now
• more than 2300 joint venture companies in Belarus
• almost 2000 foreign enterprises registered in
  Belarus

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Around 60 of the goods made in Belarus are for
export.

• The Republic of Belarus trades with over 180
  countries. (Data for 2011)

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Major Export Goods

• Trucks, road-building and construction equipment
• Tractors and agricultural machinery
• Fertilizers
• Petroleum products
• Chemical fibers and threads
• Refrigerators and household appliances
• Tires
• Timber and timber products
• Meat and dairy products
• Sugar

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Free Economic Zones in Belarus

• Each region of Belarus has a free economic zone.
  Businesses operating in these zones enjoy a range
  of benefits including
• zero-rate tax on exports for the first 5 years
• exemptions on turnover tax, road tax and property
  tax
• entitlement to open foreign and Belarusian
  currency bank accounts
• priority at border crossings
• full exemption from import duty on raw materials

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The Importance of Science and Technology
With high levels of education in Belarus the
Government is active in promoting the development
of science and technology in Belarus. In 2005 the
President of Belarus opened the High Technology
Park in Minsk. 
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High Tech Park

• There are currently 106 companies operating in
  the park
• 20 joint ventures
• 27 enterprises with 100 foreign investments

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Why HTP?

• Due to the legislative initiative of the Belarus
  government, IT companies are exempt from all
  corporate taxes, including VAT, profit, real
  estate and land taxes. Individual income tax has
  a fixed rate of 9 for the employees of HTP
  companies.
• HTP attractiveness is based not on tax benefits
  and costs alone, but on knowledge, innovation and
  highly qualified human resources.

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Hi-Tech Park in Belarus is a growing hub for
both regional and international software and IT
firms that offers its registered businesses
economic incentives. This is one example of how
the eastern European country is capitalising on
its highly skilled workforce of engineers, which
has also attracted the attention of the likes of
Microsoft and NEC. Michal Kaczmarski fDi
Intelligence
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Investment Opportunities

• The government of Belrus created a strategy to
  attract foreign direct investment (FDI) designed
  to run until 2015.
• According to Nikolai Snopkov, Minister of
  Economy, implementation of the activities
  envisaged in the strategy will allow Belarus to
  go up to the 36th position on the World Bank
  doing business rankings in 2014. Annual FDI
  growth by 2015 is expected at 7-7.5 bln.

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Decree ?6 "On stimulation of entrepreneurial
activities in the medium and small towns and
rural areas"

• exempt from income tax
• exempt from property tax
• exempt from registration fee for the issuance of
  special permit or licenses for certain activities
  within seven calendar years
• exempt from buying raw materials, components and
  materials for their own production on the
  Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange
• Exempt from import duties and VAT for goods
  imported to Belarus as a contribution to the
  authorized capital of the company that is
  registered in rural areas (for 3-5 years
  depending on the type of goods)

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10 Reasons to Invest!

• LOCATION - Belarus is in the heart of Europe
• INCENTIVES - Generous tax breaks and other
  incentives for investors
• POTENTIAL - Low competition across all
  sectors and plenty of room for growth
• OPPORTUNITIES - Large-scale privatization
  program is underway
• WORKFORCE - Highly skilled, hard-working and low
  cost workforce
• MARKETS - Direct access to the 275 million
  strong CIS market
• REFORMS - Fourth best business reformer in
  the Doing Business Report (2009 and 2010)
• GOVERNANCE - Established legislative, judicial
  and executive system of government
• PROTECTION - Investment code and international
  treaties to protect investments
• ENVIRONMENT - A safe, clean, friendly place to
  live and work, with high educational standards

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Key Sectors of Investment(according to the
government strategy to attract FDI

• Food industry
• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Plastics

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SWOT

• STRENGTHSStrategic location, highly educated
  workforce, infrastructure
• WEAKNESSESPolitical environment, perceptions of
  risk, lack of information, and over-priced
  communications
• OPPORTUNITIESInvestors re-evaluating emerging
  market risks, eurasian common economic space
• THREATSCompetition for FDI

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Who are we?
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We promote trade and investment between the EU
and Belarus. We assist companies to develop
business opportunities as well as evidence-based
dialogue between governments and companies. Our
mission is to help solve market access
difficulties and overcome regulatory obstacles
that hinder EU-Belarus trade.
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Our Core Expertise
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Our Partners
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Our Members
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Contact Us
34(2)-24 M.Tanka Str. Minsk 220004 Belarus
www.beubc.com Tel [phone]
secretariat_at_beubc.com
Museumlaan 25 B3080 Tervuren Belgium www.beubc.com
Tel [phone] secretariat_at_beubc.com
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One Day in the Life of Belarus