The creation of an IT center and improvement of business conditions were discussed by participants of a press tour organized by the Ministry of Economy
Its participants got acquainted with the state and prospects of entrepreneurship development in the region, and discussed the recently adopted package of documents aimed at stimulating business activity and forming new working conditions for initiative and enterprising citizens.
The environment being created for them in the Vitebsk region could be seen in conversations with businessmen working at the small business incubator sites of LLC "Legal Group "Law and Order" in Vitebsk.
INFRASTRUCTURE IS BEING DEPLOYED TO THE REGIONS
As emphasized by First Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Oleg Matskevich, for the Vitebsk region, small and medium-sized businesses are the most important component of development, accounting for practically a third of the region's economy.
– This is more than 140 thousand people, or 28% of the economically active population, 16% of goods produced, 11% of industrial production volume, 32% of investments, and 33% of the region's exports. But this level also does not satisfy us, – noted Oleg Matskevich.
Work on increasing the potential of the non-state sector of the economy is proceeding in several directions.
First of all, the infrastructure supporting entrepreneurship is actively developing. Under the State Program "Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Republic of Belarus" for 2016-2020, such infrastructure entities in the region received financial support of 394 thousand rubles in 2017. The region has seven entrepreneurship support centers (four in Vitebsk, one each in Orsha, Polotsk, Novopolotsk) and two incubators, and in 2018, a similar entity will start operating in Orsha, specializing in "nurturing" IT companies.
Moreover, according to Deputy Minister of Economy Dmitry Matusevich, the possibility of opening a branch of the Orsha business incubator in Baran is currently being explored. Premises are being selected for this purpose, and the Ministry of Economy is ready to allocate about 30 thousand euros for renovation and equipping with the necessary facilities.
Property support for entrepreneurship is actively practiced in the Vitebsk region.
Since the beginning of the year, 17 properties have been sold to conscientious tenants for 2.5 million rubles, and about 50 unused communal property objects have been sold at auctions. Targeted support is also provided by sectors.
For example, to stimulate the development of the tourism sector, 211 land plots with high service potential, totaling 675 hectares, have been designated in six districts for the placement of recreation centers, agro-ecotourism estates, and those planned for transfer on preferential terms to small businesses that can manage them most effectively.
Local authorities are using opportunities to create comfortable working conditions in the tax aspect as well.
Thus, this year a taxpayer service center has opened, operating on an electronic queue principle and minimizing business costs for fulfilling tax obligations. The first such center appeared in the Oktyabrsky district of the regional center, and in 2018, it is planned to create two more similar centers – in the Pervomaisky district of Vitebsk and in Orsha.
According to Alexander Trofimov, Head of the Entrepreneurship Department of the Regional Executive Committee's Economics Committee, the regional tax inspectorate has come up with an initiative not to increase the unified tax rates for entrepreneurs for 2018. Traditionally, the rates are reviewed considering inflation, but this time, after analyzing the situation, tax authorities propose to keep the conditions for small business owners unchanged in this regard.
TO BE CONTINUED
The recently adopted regulatory acts on liberalizing the business climate have actually formed a holistic structure that allows every person to realize their entrepreneurial potential, noted Dmitry Matusevich.
This refers to legislation that expands opportunities not only for small and medium-sized businesses and IT companies but also for self-employed citizens. It also simplifies conditions for craft activities and stimulates the development of agro-ecotourism (which addresses employment issues and retaining people in rural areas).
At a recent meeting with business circles, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated that the new documents have laid the foundation for reviewing legislation in all areas related to entrepreneurship. This work is to be completed in 2018.
Specifically, this involves adjusting the Tax Code and developing a new systemic document on licensing.
Guarantee funds should help small enterprises attract loans
The Ministry of Economy is working on forming a legislative framework for the creation of guarantee funds (state or private) and determining their funding sources.
According to Dmitry Matusevich, such funds should help small enterprises that lack collateral to attract loans. They will complement existing or planned financial support instruments for businesses in the country.
Such programs are implemented, in particular, by the Belarusian Entrepreneurship Support Fund on the most favorable terms for business (loans at 7% per annum). The Ministry of Economy has worked to attract borrowed funds from the World Bank with interest rates for business up to 7%.
VITEBSK SILICON VALLEY
According to the Ministry of Economy, the Vitebsk small business incubator is one of the best in Belarus. Along with expanding the incubation space, LLC "Legal Group "Law and Order" is improving the quality of services provided to businesses and stimulating innovative entrepreneurship. Recently, the incubator received the status of a science and technology park.
The project to create the Vitebsk Silicon Valley is being rebooted
According to its director Mikhail Keyzerov, the technopark will develop in two directions: biomedical and IT technologies. In fact, it is about rebooting the project to create the Vitebsk Silicon Valley.
Now the project is designed for the period up to 2020, a 9-story building at 50 Petrus Brovka Street with an area of 9 thousand sq. m has been transferred to the technopark for these purposes, and about 3.2 million rubles have been allocated for renovation and equipment.
The first three floors are allocated for a multidisciplinary small business incubator, where 14 manufacturing enterprises are already operating. Above, it is planned to place a laboratory complex and pilot production facilities for projects in the field of biomedical technologies. Letters of intent for the creation of companies on the territory of the technopark have already been signed with three companies.
"The IT center will become a growth point for the region's digital economy"
The last three floors of the building are allocated directly for the IT center, where, according to the project authors, companies (there are already four entities) specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and augmented reality technology will create, and around them, about 20 outsourcing companies formed from novice programmers (students) will be concentrated.
– We plan to create an IT center that should become a growth point for the region's digital economy, – summarized Mikhail Keyzerov.
Today, almost 180 business entities are operating in the small business incubator of the Law Group "Law and Order" LLC, employing over 1.5 thousand people. They have at their disposal five buildings in the regional center with a total area of over 1.7 thousand sq. m, and two sites in Polotsk (over 4.2 thousand sq. m).