Almost 13% of the working-age population of the Vitebsk region is employed in the private sector of the region's economy

July 9, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. Over 80,000 people, or almost 13% of the working-age population, are employed in the non-state sector of the economy of the Vitebsk region, making an increasingly significant contribution to the region's development. This was announced today by Oleg Matskevich, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, at the opening of the 9th Republican exhibition-fair "Small Business in Festival Vitebsk," according to a BELTA correspondent. The region has about 6.5 thousand commercial enterprises and almost 30 thousand individual entrepreneurs who carry out activities in 23 sectors of the national economy. The share of small business in the total industrial production of the region is 7.3%, and in consumer goods - 8.4%. Oleg Matskevich emphasized that a comprehensive set of measures is being taken in the country to improve the business climate, including simplifying control and supervisory activities, reducing licensed activities, and administrative procedures. Significant work has been done to create favorable conditions for the development of entrepreneurial initiative in small towns; there are 40 such settlements in the region. The exhibition-fair's exposition was formed by over 30 enterprises from the regions of Belarus, as well as manufacturers from Russia and India. The exhibition site is deployed in the epicenter of the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival, so small business representatives have the opportunity to showcase their achievements to a wide range of potential buyers. The theme of the exhibition remained unchanged - it features consumer goods from the best small business manufacturers, including textiles, home and interior goods, tableware, crystal, leather goods, souvenirs, and cosmetics. The program includes business meetings and round tables dedicated to the development of small and medium-sized businesses. The exhibition is designed to promote the development of a competitive environment, stimulate the development of cooperation between domestic and foreign small businesses, and create conditions for domestic producers to enter markets in ближнего and дальнего зарубежья. The event is organized by the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and KUP "Vitebsk Regional Marketing Center." -0-