President holds meeting on optimising business activity

14 февраля 2017

By Olga Makei: Business climate in Belarus has seen a significant improvement over the past decade with the introduction of debureaucratisation, registration simplification, the "one window" principle, liberalisation and benefits in the provinces. But some of the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles still remain, such as a huge number of inspections. Following a proposal put forward by Alexander Lukashenko, the Emergency Situations Ministry issued an official statement on cancelling the inspection of small and medium-sized businesses.

To consider all the pros and cons of the issue, a working group was set up in January to include specialists from various spheres. Today's meeting featured experts with different experiences and views, such as representatives of the State Control Committee, Emergencies Ministry, doctors, businessmen, heads of major Belarusian enterprises and companies with foreign capital.

The outcome of the meeting will form the basis for proposals to be submitted by the working group to the President during the first quarter of the year. The State Control Committee suggested creating a council to coordinate inspections. The experts received about twenty tasks, the main one being to improve conditions for business activity in Belarus. The group's work should be transparent with the involvement of business and the public.