Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 20 September (BelTA) – Belarus provides every opportunity for successful work of foreign investors, participant of the Belarus-U.S. Business Cooperation Council Dmitry Sadykov, a counselor of Culligan International (one of the U.S. biggest transnational corporations), told BelTA.

In his words, Belarus has big engineering, technical and human resources, a favorable investment climate and free access for products to the Customs Union. Moreover, the country’s attractiveness has been growing in the eyes of potential investors on the back of external events.

According to Dmitry Sadykov, the corporation he represents within the business cooperation council is busy attracting big players of the American and international business to Belarus. The corresponding contacts and talks are expected during the forthcoming investment forum in New York on 22 September.

In his words, the Belarus-U.S. business cooperation council has been forming a special investment fund that will provide funds for promising export-oriented projects with the participation of foreign transnational corporations. The initial investment portfolio with a number of foreign companies will be presented at the forum in New York.

When asked on the impact of the political background in the relations between Belarus and the United States on the development of business cooperation, Dmitry Saltykov stressed that business always seeks economic benefits from the situation. “Our goal today is to use the economy to polarize views here. We see that these views gradually change. There is every opportunity in Belarus to earn money. It is comfortable to do business here,” he said.

At the same time Dmitry Sadykov acknowledged that the work of attracting investors needs improvement. In his words, one of the problems is a so-called intrasectoral lobbyism and a lack of activity among people responsible for decision-making at the middle level.

Speaking about the investment forum in New York, Dmitry Sadykov underlined that this event is just one of the instruments of a whole set of events necessary to develop business cooperation: “Our goal is to use this instrument to the maximum to change the opinion of the companies which are expected at the forum. Thus, we will reach headway in the future.”