In Q1 2008, foreign investments in Belarus double to $2.1bln

In Q1 the volume of foreign investment in Belarus doubled to total $2.1 billion. Of them $617 million were direct investment, the chief of the department of international investment cooperation and free economic zones of the Economy Ministry, Vladislav Zolin, told reporters on May 20. According to him, the number of foreign companies investing in Belarusian projects has considerably grown. In 2003 there were 2,667 companies with foreign investment. As of January 1, 2008 there were 4,218 of them. “The factors contributing to an inflow of investments in the country were improvement of the investment climate, creation of favourable conditions for the activity of foreign companies,” said Vladislav Zolin. At the end of 2007 and early 2008 Belarus adopted more than 30 legal acts to stimulate investments. Most investments are channeled into investment projects in industry, communications, construction, agriculture and transport sectors. “However we would like to see more investments in small towns and villages,” the official said. “Decree No 1 foresees special privileges for foreign companies which operate in small and middle towns,” he added. According to Vladislav Zolin, at present foreign investments in Belarus come from 71 countries. The biggest investors are the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Azerbaijan (CIS countries) and from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Great Britain (Europe). “Belarus will continue to improve the conditions for attracting foreign investments,” Vladislav Zolin said. “Belarus hopes to increase their share up to 10-15% of the total investments by 2010,” he added.