By Valentina Lapshina
Capital from 39 countries is already present in the Gomel Region’s real sector of the economy, while 75 percent of manufactures are exported. Trade is conducted with 110 countries, covering almost every continent. Meanwhile, about half of the major projects currently being realised in the Gomel Region are connected with previous forums.
Lithuanian Glera Market is investing over $6m in the construction of large trade sites in the region’s district centres and, after a long, hard search, a German investor has been found for an ecological facility to process used tyres. Hungarian Tandako plans to build a cheese making plant in the region, daily processing 120 tonnes of milk, with the company planning to inject funds into developing ingredients. Representatives of an Iranian company have signed an agreement to build a plant mining rocks and developing deposits in the Lelchitsy District, including further processing. They have studied the situation in Belarus from various angles for the past year, eventually deciding that business conditions are quite favourable.
For several years, a delegation from Poland’s Lubusz Voivodship has been participating in the forum. Their close contacts have already resulted in 25 companies using Polish capital operating in various fields within the Gomel Region. Italian businessmen have also been attending the event and have shown eagerness to set up a facility to bottle wine, among other projects.
Belarus’ south-eastern region has much to offer its Russian partners, with some joint projects already realised. These include the production of fuel briquettes, and of composite materials made from thermoplastic polymers, and the production of packaging made from cardboard protected against forgery and fake (for Russian folk crafts). During the forum, several agreements were signed, all aiming to drive forward foreign economic activity. One envisages the establishment of a joint facility to sell dairy products from the Gomel Region to Russia.
The Russian delegation was the largest and most diverse at the Gomel fair, with partnerships and capital investments discussed. Vladimir Balakin, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Deputy Director of the Institute for High Energy Physics (Protvino, Moscow Region), was intrigued to learn that Gomel has a large medical institution specialising in the treatment of cancer. He shared information on his own institute’s development, which uses ray therapy to battle the disease. His suggestion of joint efforts aroused eager interest among Gomel partners.
