Selection criterion

“Due to the dynamic combination of the state’s interests with those of producers and consumers, the quality of the Belarusian goods is becoming the business card of our country, the testimony of sustainable development of the national economy”, stressed Prime Minister Sergey Sidorsky. “GDP that characterizes the qualitative growth of economy has grown by 8.6 per cent within 10 months alongside with the decrease of its energy consumption by almost 8 per cent. No country on the European continent demonstrates such a powerful decrease of energy consumption of GDP as Belarus. And in the nearest 3 — 5 years we are going to attain an even more ambitious goal — cut the energy consumption of GDP by 25 per cent sustaining the price competitiveness of the goods in the markets”.

“Atlant”, “Horisont”, “Savushkin Product” — these are not just trademarks of our enterprises. They have already become world brands that are well-known abroad because of high quality of their products. The state programme “Quality” aimed at the development of our enterprises’ export potential has been implemented for a number of years already. And its results are evident. “Today we export 80 per cent of the major certified enterprises’ output”, noted Sergey Sidorsky. “46 per cent are exported to the EU countries due to the large-scale certification of enterprises that has been conducted for the last two years”.

Nowadays in Belarus 572 quality management systems have been certified with ISO 9000, 59 environment management systems have been certified with ISO 14000, 739 kinds of goods have been entitled to СЕ–marking. The capital invested into re-equipment, modernization and staff training brings its yield. More and more enterprises carry out this work on their own initiative in order to enhance their competitive power in the market. Now, for instance, a voluntary certification of tourist cervices, passenger services in the railway transport and hotel services is carried out.

“I remember receiving a “3-star” conformity certificate for our hotel about the same time last year in this very hall”, told me director of the “Yubileyny” hotel complex, Anatoly Gulevich, before the awarding ceremony. “And today we are already the winners of the Government prize. For this time a lot of work has been done: we reequipped and reconstructed the complex and introduced a number of new services. By the way, for the last 10 years we have been doing all the reconstruction and modernization works at our own expense. Our guests, including the foreign ones, appreciate this. As a result, the complex’ currency proceeding have increased 1.5 times for the last 10 months as compared to the last year’s result. In 2007 we are going to become a “4-star” hotel. Such actions as distribution of the Government prizes give a very good impetus to work better”.

By the way, for the 7 years since the contest was instituted 129 Belarusian enterprises and organizations have become its prize-winners.

Lilia Khlystun