Goals for new Belarusian economy minister outlined
On January 4, 2020, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko decided to appoint Alexander Viktorovich Chervyakov as Minister of Economy of the Republic of Belarus. Earlier, Alexander Chervyakov worked at the Ministry of Economy as the First Deputy Minister. On January 8, 2020 Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Rumas has introduced newly appointed Economy Minister Aleksandr Chervyakov to the ministry's personnel. As he did so, Sergei Rumas outlined the main tasks the new minister must tackle.
Working previously as a deputy economy minister and the first deputy economy minister, Aleksandr Chervyakov took care of such important tasks as the development of the national strategy on sustainable development for the period till 2035. “It is an extremely important document for the country. Moreover, we will soon get down to working on a new five-year term program,” Sergei Rumas said. “Work done on the national strategy on sustainable development for the period till 2035 will become the core of this work.”
“You know the high goals the head of state wants us to achieve: the GDP should reach $100 billion by the end of the next five-year term,” the prime minister noted. “It is the main goal.” Sergei Rumas emphasized he did not need simple figures that indicate that economy growth of about 5% per annum can achieve the goal. All the projections should rely on specific projects. All the components should be described in detail in the five-year program.
The development of regional policy is another task Sergei Rumas sketched out for the new economy minister. “You personally oversaw the program and the development of the presidential decree on developing Orsha District. This project is being actively worked on now. Not all the provisions are being fulfilled so far but it is a matter to be discussed another time,” the prime minister noted. Sergei Rumas reminded that the head of state would host a government conference to discuss Orsha District in late January. “All of us will have to prepare, will have to see where more efforts are needed in order to fulfill provisions of this progressive decree,” Sergei Rumas said.
Micro level is another task the head of state mentioned as he appointed the new economy minister. According to the prime minister, Aleksandr Chervyakov knows how economy works at the macro level since he was previously in charge of the Economy Ministry's Economy Research Institute. Working as a deputy economy minister and the first deputy economy minister, Aleksandr Chervyakov had an opportunity to take a look at the micro level, in particular, agriculture in Vitebsk Oblast. Sergei Rumas stressed that the micro level should not be limited to agriculture. “We also have problems in the manufacturing sector as well. I think all the industry-specific ministries also count on assistance of the Economy Ministry,” Sergei Rumas said.
The sphere of services is another potential driver of economic development. “We are able to achieve rapid growth in this sphere with small capital investments and efforts. That is why it is very important for the Economy Ministry to establish interaction with all the ministries, which are responsible for sectors of services, so that we would have a uniform understanding and would jointly tackle the task,” Sergei Rumas said.
In his new status Aleksandr Chervyakov will also have to more intimately get involved in work with the Russian Federation, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Investment projects were mentioned as one of the matters that always have to be closely overseen.
At the end of his speech, Sergei Rumas stated that any the industry-specific ministry solves a more or less complex but narrow task. “But the Ministry of Economics stands above and on the set of all those tasks and challenges that our country faces in this very dynamic and changing world. Therefore, I congratulate you, Alexander Viktorovich, and at the same time I express confidence that you and your team will be able to solve these tasks, ”said the Prime Minister.
Aleksandr Chervyakov assured the Economy Ministry will do its best to fulfill all the tasks set by the President and the Prime Minister.