Posted:
08.05.2025 10:36:55
New niches for our country
Service exports are expanding: why foreigners choose Belarus for leisure, health improvement and study
Last year was more than successful for Belarus in terms of exporting goods and services. Indeed, it amounted to a record $50 billion, as has been repeatedly emphasised. It would seem that sanctions and complex logistics would hinder progress, but the country not only withstood these challenges, but also increased its performance. At the same time, the list of countries to which Belarusian products were exported expanded by 14 new positions. How did our country cope with the new challenges and threats? The MT has discussed this with Yelena Milashevich, Head of Social and Consumer Services Sector at the Economics of Service Sector Department at the Institute of Economics under Belarus’ National Academy of Sciences.
Belarusian universities provide high-quality educational services to foreign students Driver for social sphere development
An increase in exports is a priority for our socio-economic development, as noted by Yelena Milashevich. “This is emphasised in the speeches of our President and enshrined in the main programme documents,” the expert stressed. “In the economic sphere, the major national interests in the field of foreign trade are trade in both goods and services. Key areas include the development of high-tech, export-oriented, import-substituting industries, non-discriminatory access to global markets for goods and services, and the maintenance of commodity and country diversification of exports of goods and services, balanced foreign trade and ensuring external economic security.”Foreign trade in services plays an important role in Belarus’ foreign trade turnover, accounting for about 16 percent. Exports of services for 2024 amounted to $9.9 billion, an increase of 14 percent compared to 2023. The balance of foreign trade in services is $3.4 billion. Incidentally, the expert underscored that this figure had been positive for a long period.
Trade in services plays an important role in Belarus' foreign trade Annenki microdistrict in Kaluga, Russia. Houses built
turnover by Belarusian builders
Positions not lost but gained
“The export of services has not lost its position thanks to the development of new areas of activity and new geography,” noted the economist. “Take a type of transport service like aviation. We see new routes emerge. For example, air travel between Belarus and Russia is expanding. Flights are operating to Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa, Sochi, and so on. Considering the large number of students from China, as well as the increasing tourist flow and business trips, it is worth exploring the possibility of opening several direct flights between Belarus and China. Notably, a flight to the Chinese island of Hainan, a centre for health and medical tourism, has already been launched.”
Annenki microdistrict in Russia's Kaluga
No less strong is our export of medical services. Last year alone, more than 160,000 foreign patients from 159 countries received treatment in Belarusian clinics. For comparison: in 2023, it was 149,000.
“Most often, it is Russians who come to us for treatment,” noted the expert. “By the way, 60 percent of our patients are from CIS countries, although people also come from further afield: China, the USA, Syria, Italy. This is understandable; after all, Belarusian medicine is constantly implementing new methods and treatment technologies in everyday practice, which meet global standards. Today, transplantology, oncology, cardiac surgery, plastic surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology, and traumatology are the most in demand.”
Speaking of medical services, it is necessary to mention health improvement and spa treatment — if only because, if we take the total revenue from tourist services, about 50 percent is the share of exports of health resort services. “Revenue from the export of medical and health services last year amounted to more than Br400 million. This is almost 30 percent more than in 2023 and 1.9 times higher than in 2019 (Br215.6 million),” Yelena Milashevich pointed out.
As for educational services, Belarus is certainly actively developing co-operation with CIS countries. These are mainly Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Today, we also have more than 9,000 students from China. According to the expert, this is quite a big leap forward, because back in the 2019–2020 academic year, Belarus only had 1,400 foreign students from this country.
Hundreds of future qualified specialists from countries in Africa and the Middle East — primarily Nigeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and others — are trained annually at universities in our country.
Republican sanatorium Vyazhuti in Minsk Region, Molodechno District. Republican Dental Clinic. In the photo: dentist Mariya
In the photo: nurse Alesya Guletskaya Kiselyova, nurse Tatiana Shevelyova
Markets for the future
Belarus is continuously working to identify new promising markets for trade in services. According to Yelena Milashevich, both the geography of supplies and the range of services that we can offer on the external market are expanding, “Thus, in 2023 a Memorandum of Understanding was concluded between Belarus and Zimbabwe. A concrete action plan has been prepared, which includes the service sector. Last year, Mongolia became a new area of co-operation for us. A roadmap for 2024—2026 has been signed, which sets out important areas of co-operation, particularly in the field of education. In mid-2024, an action plan was signed to strengthen partnership with Nigeria. Last year, an agreement was also signed with Sudan, which is of mutual interest in the fields of education and healthcare.”Furthermore, Belarus has established an image as a nation focused on the high quality of goods produced and services provided. “Our programmers, builders, teachers and medics are valued on all continents. When it comes to medicine, a number of surgeries performed by Belarusian specialists are unique,” recounted the economist. “Some countries have restrictions on certain surgeries — for example IVF may be unavailable to women over 40. Belarusian doctors cope with the most difficult cases. We have no restrictions, so it is possible to provide such services. As for education, a significant number of specialists study at Belarusian universities and postgraduate programmes, defend their theses, and obtain Candidate of Sciences degrees.”
Teaching methods are being improved as well. Thus, distance learning is becoming increasingly available. “I am convinced that the future lies in such digital transformation. As it does in the field of medicine,” Yelena Milashevich shared her opinion. “Currently, our telemedicine operates within the ‘doctor-to-doctor’ framework, where a doctor from a district medical facility consults with a colleague from a facility at the regional or national level. The next stage is the introduction of a telemedicine consultation system, ‘doctor-to-patient’. For example, if I live in a small town, and after seeing my local general practitioner, I want to get a second opinion. There is assistance that can, in principle, be provided remotely.”
Arrival of the first aircraft on new Brest–Moscow and Moscow–Brest routes by Belavia By Vera Arteaga
