Belarus might not have natural resources and might be marred by some crises in the past, but despite all that, the country has recorded substantial economic growth.
The Belarusian government pursues the strategy of cautious reform with great concern for social welfare and stability, being a social-oriented market economy. The government helps in smooth transition from the command to market economy, providing social support to vulnerable population groups. Since the late 1990s, Belarus has attained progress in economic reform and stabilisation. The country avoided the shutdown of its major industrial enterprises and retained one of the highest standards of living in former Soviet Union.
The industrial potential of Belarus includes 20 thermoelectric power stations, 17 metallurgical works, 70 petrochemical plants (the concern ‘Belneftekhim’), 29 machine-tool construction enterprises, 36 automakers, 37 tractor and agricultural engineering plants, 11 construction, road and municipal engineering plants, 20 food and light industry engineering enterprises, three research and-production associations of electronic industry, 41 enterprises of electrical industry, 36 instrument-makers, 70 research-and-production associations, plants and institutes of radio industry, 1,416 producers of light and textile industries.
The share of mechanical engineering and metalworking constitutes 25% of the country’s industrial output. According to recent researches, the number of small-scale enterprises exceeded 30 thousand. Six economic zones are established. 2,650 joint ventures and foreign enterprises with foreign investments are registered in Belarus. They are created with participation of 80 overseas countries.
Among Belarus’ most powerful plants are Belarussian Autoworks BelAZ, Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ), ‘Atlant’ (freezer and refrigerator plant), Belaruskaliy (the biggest producer of potassium fertilizers in the world) and oil refineries in Novopolotsk and Mozyr.
The Belarusian government pursues the strategy of cautious reform with great concern for social welfare and stability, being a social-oriented market economy. The government helps in smooth transition from the command to market economy, providing social support to vulnerable population groups. Since the late 1990s, Belarus has attained progress in economic reform and stabilisation. The country avoided the shutdown of its major industrial enterprises and retained one of the highest standards of living in former Soviet Union.
The industrial potential of Belarus includes 20 thermoelectric power stations, 17 metallurgical works, 70 petrochemical plants (the concern ‘Belneftekhim’), 29 machine-tool construction enterprises, 36 automakers, 37 tractor and agricultural engineering plants, 11 construction, road and municipal engineering plants, 20 food and light industry engineering enterprises, three research and-production associations of electronic industry, 41 enterprises of electrical industry, 36 instrument-makers, 70 research-and-production associations, plants and institutes of radio industry, 1,416 producers of light and textile industries.
The share of mechanical engineering and metalworking constitutes 25% of the country’s industrial output. According to recent researches, the number of small-scale enterprises exceeded 30 thousand. Six economic zones are established. 2,650 joint ventures and foreign enterprises with foreign investments are registered in Belarus. They are created with participation of 80 overseas countries.
Among Belarus’ most powerful plants are Belarussian Autoworks BelAZ, Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ), the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ), ‘Atlant’ (freezer and refrigerator plant), Belaruskaliy (the biggest producer of potassium fertilizers in the world) and oil refineries in Novopolotsk and Mozyr.