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"In 2010, on agreement with the UNECE, we made the first Innovation Performance Review of Belarus. Recommendations on innovative development of our country for five years were made on its basis. Five years have passed, and now is the time to prepare the next review. We plan to prepare it by March 2016,” said Alexander Shumilin.

According to the Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology, Belarus was one of the first to conduct such a review among the CIS countries. Then similar surveys were made by five countries in the region, among which were Ukraine, Armenia, and Tajikistan. "At today's conference we will give a start to the second review. It is important for us to show what we have achieved, which recommendations of European experts gave the greatest results, and which weak points we have. We are also working on a new program of innovation development for the next five years, using both the experience of both Russia and also Europe. And it is important that we hear the evaluation of the program from the UNECE experts," he explained.

"The results and recommendations of the first review made a considerable contribution to the development of the country’s innovation policy and were used in management decision-making in matters of innovation development. Indirectly we can assess the degree of Belarus’ presence in the international market of new technologies by the volume of high-tech exports which in 2014 amounted to about $10 billion. Annually Belarus designs 3 to 5 world-class innovations," said Alexander Shumilin.

The international conference "Effective innovation policy: evaluation - implementation-monitoring” is running in Minsk on 17-18 November. Attending it are about 100 people. The event has been organized by the State Committee on Science and Technology, the UNECE Economic Cooperation and Trade Division, the Belarusian Institute of System Analysis and Information Support for Scientific and Technical Sphere and the UNDP Office in Belarus.