Belarus, unlike many other CIS states, preserves high-tech sector

Unlike many other CIS member states, Belarus has preserved state-owned high-tech companies, head of the innovations and investments division of the Industry Ministry of Belarus Valery Fishman said during an online conference on the BelTA website.

Speaking about the share of products of the fifth and sixth technological paradigms, he said: “If we compare Belarus with other former republics of the Soviet Union, we will see that Belarus is virtually the only country to preserve the high-tech sector. The scientific potential of this sector allows participating in the Union State research projects and exporting high-tech components of space, aviation, nuclear and special-purpose machines”.

Valery Fishman explained that the core products of the fifth and sixth technological paradigms are electronics, computing machinery, software, information services, biotechnologies and space technologies. He noted that Belarus managed to preserve high-tech production facilities that manufacture component parts for microelectronics and equipment to produce it, as well as optoelectronics.

According to Valery Fishman, high-tech production facilities account for 5% of the industrial output of the Industry Ministry. “By the end of this year some more facilities are to be delivered. I believe that the share of high-tech products will remain the same or even rise. The share of innovative products in the output of the Industry Ministry is an even more important indicator. In recent years the figure has been around 40%, although the country’s average makes up 18%,” he said.

Taking into consideration the particularities of the Belarusian economy, the following mechanical engineering companies can be called the companies of the fifth technological paradigm: Integral, Planar, Belarusian Optical and Mechanical Association, Horizont, MPOVT, Plant Optic, and Vityaz. Large information technology centers were set up at all big companies, including MTZ, BelAZ, MAZ, Atlant, Gomselmash, and BMZ.

The state sci-tech program Electronic Enterprise Resource Planning (CALS-ERP technologies) provides for the introduction and broader use of information technologies in mechanical engineering.