DZERZHINSK, 17 September (BelTA) – Businessmen of 42 countries work in the Minsk oblast, Deputy Chairman of the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee Alexander Ermak noted during the Minsk Oblast Investment Forum which is being held in the town of Dzerzhinsk on 17 September. Businessmen from Russia, Cyprus, Austria, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Great Britain, Iran and others actively invest in the economy of the Minsk oblast. There are 408 joint companies and 317 foreign enterprises in the Minsk oblast. As for the successful projects which are being implemented with the participation of foreign capital in 2009, Alexander Ermak noted the construction of the transport and logistics center Prilesie (Iranian investments – Br330 billion), the detergents making plant in the Minsk region (Cyprian investments – Br11 billion), the plant protecting agents production facility in the Pukhovichi region of the Minsk oblast (Russian investments - $45 million). The Minsk Oblast Executive Committee signed three protocols of intentions on cooperation with big foreign companies at the amount of $250 million. Owing to the results of the Dzerzhinsk Investment Forum, the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee is expected to sign four agreements more. Speaking about the economic potential of the region, Alexander Ermak noted that there are 400 big companies in the Minsk oblast. The biggest industrial centers are Soligorsk, Borisov, Slutsk, Molodechno and Zhodino which produce around 15% of the total products in the country. Around 30,000 sole traders and more than 11,000 small companies are registered in the Minsk oblast. The small and middle-sized business of the region employs around 85,000 people. Over the recent six years, the foreign trade of the Minsk oblast increased 3.5 times. The region has been developing successful cooperation with a hundred of countries including the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Brazil, China, India, Germany, Poland and others. In 2009, the Minsk oblast opened new sales markets – Australia, Algeria, Cameroon, Chili. The Minsk oblast expanded the range of the export goods. For instance, the region started to supply glass, rape seed to Lithuania, transport vehicles to Bosnia and Herzegovina, metal constructions and tires to Poland, mineral fertilisers and timber to Germany, mirrors to Denmark and Switzerland, mineral water to Canada, plastic construction parts to Iran. Attending the Minsk Oblast Investment Forum are more than 200 representatives of Belarusian and foreign business, economists and scientists. Representatives of the National Bank of Belarus, the Economy Ministry, the Belarus Council for Business Development, official and business delegations from 17 countries are taking part in the work of the forum. The forum features around 90 investment projects which are expected to be carried out in the Minsk oblast.

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