The foreign trade strategy must be based on market conquest – Oleg Matskevich

The foreign trade strategy must be based on market conquest. This was stated yesterday at a meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee by Oleg Matskevich, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee.

Oleg Matskevich noted with regret that the heads of some districts, cities, and enterprises are formally working to increase efficiency and reduce costs, often only on paper. "Vitebsk and Novopolotsk, as well as 14 districts of the region, have not reached the export level of 2015, and 4 districts have completely failed indicators. The situation with the export of services is even worse," stated the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee.

He also named the product groups for which exports have decreased – these are meat and dairy products, flax products, woodworking products, and construction materials. "These products are in demand in foreign markets. Opportunities for their sale in Russia and the European Union are only increasing. But if you build your work on the expectation that someone will come to us and ask for goods, nothing will happen. This delusion should have been abandoned 5-6 years ago. Now there can be only one strategy in foreign trade – market conquest. You won't sell much sitting in offices," emphasized Oleg Matskevich.

The Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee noted that the strategy for conquering foreign markets includes mandatory product certification depending on the delivery regions, market research through a trade representative office (domestic or foreign), placing bids in the international tender system, arranging insurance for export transactions, and coordinating applications for export credits and other state support measures. "In addition, it should not be forgotten that today, high-tech goods are primarily in demand in the market. We talk about this constantly, but the main exporters have not moved from words to deeds," he said. Oleg Matskevich also drew attention to the fact that new exporting enterprises are not being created in cities and districts, the work to promote goods to new markets is sporadic and limited to one-time shipments without long-term contracts. "Every district of the region has goods,

which can be offered for export. These issues must be addressed purposefully and persistently,\" - concluded the Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee.

Alena Tikhonova - BELTA.