By Dmitry Patolichev
The Interstate Council on Co-operation in the Sci-Tech and Innovative Spheres has met in Minsk to discuss the programme. Representatives of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova, Tajikistan, Russia, Ukraine and the CIS Executive Council also studied other topical integration issues, such as the possibility of establishing a Centre of Nanotechnology at the Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Institute. If the latter is established, then the CIS states, while jointly financing previously inaccessible high-tech projects, would gain the chance to fully realise and strengthen their intellectual potential, while solving major scientific problems (upon which authoritative Russian partners are working as part of international programmes).
The Chairman of the State Committee for Science and Technology of Belarus, Igor Voitov, is also the Chairman of the Interstate Council on Co-operation in Sci-Tech and Innovative Spheres. He notes that CIS states aim to strengthen links between scientists and co-ordinate research and innovative activity, enhancing their global competitiveness. The programme aims to raise GDP over 2.5-fold while reducing energy consumption at factories by 70 percent.
