Belbiograd to attract $8.55bn in foreign investments to Belarus

The creation of Belbiograd will attract $8.55 billion in foreign investments to Belarus. Over 37,000 new jobs will be created as part of the park’s development. The figures are specified by the substantiation of the need to adopt the decree on setting up the national hi-tech park Belbiograd. The draft decree has been published by the website of the Belarusian Economy Ministry, BelTA has learned.

Public consultations about the draft decree are in progress and will last till 26 April.

The implementation of the large-scale project will allow raising the investment attractiveness of Belarus, attracting considerable foreign investments, accelerating the development of new or promising kinds of economic activities in Belarus. It will also create conditions for easier access to the latest foreign technologies, raising innovative and business activity. High-performance jobs will be created. There are plans to export more science-intensive and hi-tech products, primarily to the Customs Union, create stable horizontal ties between research institutions, higher education institutions, Belarusian healthcare institutions and Belbiograd residents. Public private partnership projects will be implemented there.

Belbiograd will occupy 167.3 hectares. The park is expected to be sufficient for the residents to implement up to 80 investment and innovative projects in the area of pharmaceutics, nano and biotechnologies, micro and nanosystems. The bulk of the output will be exported to the Customs Union and other countries.

The industrial zone of Belbiograd will be an autonomous territory as large as 122 hectares in the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park. Taking into account the rational utilization of the available potential of Belarusian science two locations have been chosen for the Biograd Minsk facility, including one as large as 45.3 hectares inside Minsk’s science campus.

The substantiation of the draft decree indicates that as of 1 April 2012 several bodies had confirmed their intention to implement projects in Belbiograd. Those are Russian Biomac Consortium, OAO Avangard, the Saint Petersburg Association of Radio Electronics Enterprises, OAO Vnesheconombank, the Iranian holding company Tadbir, the Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva. The international group of companies Favea, the Russian company GxP Engineering, the German engineering company Glatt, the Italian company Fedegari have shown a certain interest in taking part in the project to create Belbiograd along with readiness for further negotiations.

An analysis of Belarus’ existing potential indicates the availability of favorable conditions and prerequisites for the accelerated development of the pharmaceutical industry, biotech and microbiology industry, and nano industry. Meanwhile, ministries and concerns are focused on smooth day-to-day operation of the organizations they run instead of putting efforts into developing new economy branches. Apart from that, the state now has insufficient financial, organizational, and intellectual resources to finance the entire work required to shape the new industries and hi-tech kinds of economic activities.

International experience indicates that a government-authorized development institution for the hi-tech industry with relevant organizational, financial, and intellectual resources can shape and develop the hi-tech sector. The Belarusian Hi-Tech Park is an example. Now Belbiograd will be the institution to develop the pharmaceutical, nano and biotechnology industries, micro and nanosystems.

Belbiograd’s concept stems from Singapore’s biotechnology park Biopolis, which is deemed the reference specialized technology park in the world.