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Vasili RAMANAU
Higher education Mogilev Machine-Building Institute
Qualification acquired Mechanical engineer
employment record
2007-present Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Minsk Chairman
October 2005 – 2007 Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Minsk First
Vice-Chairman
November 1988 - October 2005 “Sewing Factory “ELIZ”, Dzezhinsk Director,
Director-General
March 1988 - November 1988 “Belchimopttorg”, Fanipol Chief Engineer
September 1985 - March 1988 “Belchimsnabsbyt”, Fanipol Chief Engineer
November 1981- September 1986 Fanipol Mechanical Repair Plant, Fanipol Chief of Planning and Production Division
August 1981 - November 1981 Enterprise ?Minremspetssnabtrans?, Fanipol Chief of Commissioning Division
March 1971 - August 1981 Mogilev Mechanical Repair Plant, Mogilev Inspector,
Supervisor, Machine Shop Manager
Married, has son and daughter
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Speech at the 3rd WICO Forum
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear representatives of the Organizing Committee of WICO Forum and representatives of Chinese enterprises,
Please allow me to express our welcome to you on behalf of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry!
The Republic of Belarus is a democratic country situated at the heart of Europe.
The territory of Belarus is 207,600 square kilometers.
The country has population of about 9.8 million people. The official languages are Belarusian and Russian.
The capital of the Republic of Belarus is Minsk. The population in Minsk is 1,766,000 people.
Belarus is divided into six regions. They are Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, , Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev. Under them, there are 118 districts. Belarus has more than 1000 cities, including 14 cities with more than 100,000 of population.
Belarus has abundant mineral resources. The main minerals are sylvite, rock salt, lignite, peat, petroleum and iron ore as well as natural building materials. 38% of the territoriy of Belarus is covered by forest.
The economy of Belarus mantains steady growth. The annual economic growth stands at about 8%~10%.
On January 1, 2008, the foreign debt of Belarus was 28.4% of its GNP. 46% of the products made in Belarus are exported. National debt is 4.55% of its GDP.
Foreign trade develops very smoothly, too. In 2007, its total foreign trade volume reached about USD58 billion, increasing by 26.1% over 2006, the export amount increased by 24.3% and import amount increased by 27.9%. The trade volume in the first half of this year is USD36.8 billion, up by 57.1% over the same period of 2007, export amount increased by 59.3% and import amount increased by 55%. As import outnumbered export, trade deficit appeared. The main contributors to this deficit are the countries in CIS.
The main reasons are the doubled price of natural gas and the changed conditions of oil import and export.
This year, Belarus has foreign trade cooperation with 169 countries, exports products to 125 countries and imports products from 155 countries.
The major trade partners this year are: Russia which contributes 49.3% of foreign trade, Holland, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Britain, Latvia, China, Brazil, Lithuania and Italy.
Russia contributes 32.5% of total export amount, other CIS countries 12.1%, EU 45.5%, China just above 1% and other countries 9.9%. Russia contributes 64.1% of the total import amount of Belarus, other CIS countries 6.1%, EU 19%, China 3% and other countries 10.8%.
In the “2008 World Economic Analysis and Outlook”, UN economists pointed out Belarus had made good headway in employment issue and managed unemployment rate at 1%.
According to the “Trade Index and Development of Developing Countries in 2007” published at United Nations Conference on Trade and Development，Belarus ranked 57th in the world and was one of the countries with the fastest development among CIS countries. Experts underlined the advantages of Belarus. The improvement of social welfare and rapid development of foreign trade put Belarus to the 34th place in the world, surpassing all other CIS countries.
According to the population development report UNDP made in 2007, the population in Belarus saw great development and made a history. For the first time, Belarus ascended to the ranks of developed countries and ranked 64th, surpassing all other CIS countries.
According to the statistical data of the World Bank, Belarus spends more money in maintaining people's living standard than other countries of the former Soviet Union do. The per capita spending is USD3900. The per capita finanical expenditure is USD4870.
The 30th Conference of World Red Cross Society held in Geneva in 2007 praised Belarus did a good job in ensuring humanitarian right.
International credit rating organization “Standard & Poor” rated Belarus credible.
Long-term foreign currency: B+.
Short-term foreign currency: B.
Long-term domestic currency: BB.
Short-term domestic currency: B.
Located on the eastern border of EU, Belarus can serve as a base for foreign investors who want to tap new markets in CIS countries.
The trunk railways and highways in Belarus connect EU and CIS countries. Belarus and Russia have formed a customs union, so the entry to Belarusian market may lead to the entry of the large Russian market. In recent years, more and more investment flow into Belarus. Since 2002, Belarus has attracted over USD4.6 billion of foreign investment, including about USD2.2 billion of direct investment.
Belarus has a very good investment law. In the territory of Belarus, the rights of investors are protected. The investment law aims to attract more investment. In the country, there is a foreign investment council directly led by prime minister. Belarus has six special zones where preferential policies are granted. The country will provide favorable policies for investors who set up companies in a city of below 50,000 people.
For example, corporate income tax and some other taxes will be exempted in the first five years.
The good investment direction is to establish and develop roadside service facilities. Belarus has a program named “Belarusian Roads”. In this program, procedure is greatly streamlined and it takes not more than 35 days to have land allocated.
More and more foreign investors come to Belarus.
In order to more easily attract foreign investors, Belarus has prepared and selected investment projects, including over 230 projects catering for SMEs. When attending oversease economic activities, Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Belarusian CCI for short) will particularly introduce the investment in Belarus.
In order to bring Belarus into international economic and business system, Belarusian CCI has played an important role. It carries out work according to the law for the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It has signed an agreement with Belarusian government to involve in legislative activities, including some overseas economic activities.
Belarusian CCI is a nongovernmental and nonprofit organization that expresses and protects the interests of Belarusian and foreign businessmen.
Belarusian CCI is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce. Since 2002, as a member of the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, it has actively involved in the activities of the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Belarus is a founder and member of the International Council on Cooperation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Eastern and Central European Countries. Besides, Belarusian CCI is also a member of the Council of CCIs for Central European Countries. By 2007, Belarusian CCI had walked through 55 years.
Up till present, the branches of Belarusian CCI in six regions have signed about 700 agreements and memorandums with the chambers of commerce and industry in other countries.
Under Belarusian CCI, there are three specialized enterprises:
“Belinterexpo”: Involve in the preparation and holding of domestic and foreign exhibitions.
“Center of Business Education”: Dedicated to training leaders and experts of Belarusian enterprises.
“Belpatentservice”: The services provided include protection of IPR, trademarks, inventions and industrial design.
In the framework of Belarusian CCI, there is also an international arbitration court which is an official member of European and world court systems.
Belarusian CCI has set up permanent representative offices in Germany, Russia and China and non-permanent representative offices in 12 countries in the world and 7 states in Russia.
Belarusian CCI may provide extensive foreign economic services, including visit organizing, delegation reception, information exchange, publishing of business information, legal advice on foreign economy, authentication service, license, asset appraisal and so on. It supports Belarusian enterprises entering foreign markets. The chamber enjoys high authority. Through training, it has cultivated many experts to provide broad consultation service.
I'd like to say something about the trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and China.
Belarusian CCI believed the partnership with China has realistic advantages. For this reason, it signed a cooperative agreement with China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT for short) in 1993. This agreement serves as the foundation for the cooperation between the chambers of commerce and industry in the two countries. It is also the first agreement of a kind Belarusian CCI has signed with a foreign cooperative partnter.
In recent years, the cooperation between Belarusian CCI and Chinese partners, CCPIT in particular has been improved. In October 2002, the business delegation led by chairman of Belarusian CCI made a visit to China.
The chairman of Belarusian CCI and the chairman of CCPIT reached mutual understanding on strengthening cooperation at local level. In order to reinforce the economic and trade cooperation between Belarus and China, they worked out a program for the Belarusian CCI and the CCPIT in 2002-2004.
Main content of the program: all of the six regions of Belarus will establish ties of friendship with Chinese provinces.
The established ties of friendship are between:
Vitebsk Region and Shandong Province
Mogilev Region and Jiangsu Province
Grodno Region and Gansu Province
Brest Region and Yunnan Province
Gomel Region and Liaoning Province
Minsk Region and Guangdong Province
Later on, the Belarusian CCI and the CCPIT passed the "Program for Strengthening Economic and Trade Cooperation between Branches of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Branches of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in 2004-2006".
At present, Belarusian CCI is implementing the "Outline for Strengthening Relations between Belarus and China in 2006-2010".
In addition, according to the suggestions of Belarusian national agencies, Belarusian CCI and other branches are also cooperating with other regions in China.
In the past decade, Belarusian CCI organized six national exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin and Urumqi, sent more than 20 Belarusian delegations to China (Beijing, Nanjing, Urumqi, Shandong, Jiangsu, Yunnan, Liaoning and Gansu) and received 15 Chinese business delegations. I hope Chinese CCPIT holds a Chinese exhibition or exposition in Belarus.
Information exchange is going well. Last December, the Center of Business Education of Belarusian CCI received support from CCPIT and opened a 10-day training class in Beijing. Its title is "Experience of Large Chinese Groups in 'Go Global'".
In order to continue to enliven economic and trade cooperation, Belarusian CCI set up a representative office in China in 2007, which expresses the interests of the members of Belarusian CCI.
Through this representative office, we hope to export high-tech products, dairy products, flax fiber and other products, inlcuding other products in food industry to China. I assigned a task to the representative office: try the best to import the vitamins, raw chemical materials and daily necessities which are not produced in Belarus directly from China. At present, Belarus still import these products and raw materials from third countries. Direct supply will enhance the competitiveness of the finished products of our country.
In the end, I wish all the people attending this forum health and success in negotiation and career.
Thank you for your attention!
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