The Republic of Belarus is situated in the center of Europe at the intersection of routes that lead from the West to the East and from the North to the South. The shortest way from Europe to Russia and other CIS countries crosses through Belarus. With a population of 10 million people, the country has an area of 207 thousand of square kilometers. There are over 20 000 rivers and 10 000 lakes in the country. A third of the Belarus’ territory is covered with forests. About 2 million people live in the country’s capital, the city of Minsk.

Belarus is one of the most economically developed countries in the CIS with a stable growth of GDP – 5.0% in 2002, 7.0% in 2003, 11.0% in 2004, and 9.2% in 2005. National industry manufactures a wide variety of technologically-complex products, ranging from trucks, corn harvesters, and tractors to refrigerators, microchips, and TV’s.

30% of the world’s production of heavy load trucks and mining dump trucks (with carrying-capacity of more than 40 tons), about 10% of world potash fertilizers, and 8% of all tractors assembled in the world come from Belarus. The timber and the woodworking industries are well developed, so are the light and the food industries. Since Belarus and some CIS countries have formed a customs union, goods that were made in Belarus and have a certificate of Belarusian origin can be exported to Russia, Ukraine, and several other customs union member-countries without any duties. Many foreign firms (there are 4 000 firms with foreign capital in Belarus) produce goods in Belarus and sell them on big markets of these CIS countries.

67% of the GDP accounts for the export of goods and services (2005). This fact reflects the high degree of openness of the Belarusian economy. For comparison, this index for the U.S. is 12%.

In May 2006, a visit of a business delegation from Belarus to the U.S. will be organized by the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a non-governmental and non-commercial organization.

The delegation will consist of companies that make pine-wood furniture, producers of famous Belarusian vodka and nastoyka, software companies, machine-building factories (machines, iron and core-mold casting, metalworking), producers of shoes and ready-made garments etc. The interests of the delegation lie not only in the export dimension, but also in the direction of finding suppliers for new technologies and equipment. Particular curiosity of some agriculture-related firms touches the sapling of America’s famous tall bilberry.

There are many proposals for profitable investment in different projects in Belarus. In this article alone it is difficult to describe all the business capacities of Belarus that will become apparent during a meeting with Belarusian delegation.

You have to see it!

Belarus Chamber of Commerce and Industry: 375-172-377-966

sobolev@cci.by