- •Read the text about the Republic of Belarus and explain whether it occupies a favorable geographical position and what natural resources it possesses. The republic of belarus
- •1. Read the text and identify major governmental bodies and their functions. State and government structure and bodies
- •Belarus is a presidential republic.
- •Legislative Power
- •Judicial Power
- •Local Government and Self-Government
- •The structure of belarusian economy
- •Main social and economic indicators
- •Major branches of belarus economy
- •Manufacturing
- •The share of industries in the total industrial output (2018):
- •Key belarusian products
- •Production of transport vehicles
- •Manufacture of foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco products
- •Agriculture
- •Transport and logistics
- •Foreign trade
- •1. Read the text and identify the current economic trends and issues that Belarus is facing. Recent economic trends and problems
- •General information about the state
- •The china-belarus industrial park
- •Investment potential of belarus
- •1. Strategically favourable location
- •2. Direct access to the markets of eeu countries (Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia)
- •3. Attractive tax and investment environment
- •4. Highly developed transportation and shipping system
- •5. Unique conditions for privatization
- •6. Highly qualified personnel
- •7. Proper quality of life
General information about the state
The Republic of Belarus is located in the center of Europe. It consists of six regions with centres in the cities of Minsk, Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev, which are further divided into 118 rural districts, 102 towns and over 24 thousand townships and villages. In the capital of the Republic, the city of Minsk, there live around 2 million people.
The Republic of Belarus is a unitary, democratic, social state with the rule of law. It admits the priority of generally acknowledged principles of international law and assures the conformity of legislation with them.
The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Belarus, having supreme legal force. It was adopted in 1994, with the subsequent amendments and additions adopted at the national referenda on November 24,1996, and October 17, 2006. Laws of the Republic of Belarus, ordinances of the President of the Republic of Belarus, decrees of the President of the Republic of Belarus and other acts of state bodies (officials) are adopted and enacted in compliance with the Constitution.
The state power is exercised on the basis of its division on legislative, executive and judicial. Belarus is a presidential republic. The President of the Republic of Belarus is a head of state, a guarantor of the Constitution, of peoples' rights and freedoms.
In accordance with the Constitution the representative and legislative body is the Parliament- the National Assembly- consisting of two chambers- the House of Representatives (110 deputies) and the Council of the Republic ( 64 members).
The executive power in the republic is exercised by the Government - the Council of Ministers being the central body of state administration. The local administration and self-administration is carried through the system of local executive and administrative bodies ( councils of deputies), bodies of self-administration, referenda, assemblies etc.
The judicial power in the republic belongs to the courts. Control over accordance of legal acts with the Constitution is exercised by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus. Supervision of the exact and uniform execution of laws by all bodies of state management, local councils and other legal, and also physical persons is carried out by the General Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Belarus.
Control over the fulfillment of the republican budget, the utilization of state property, the execution of parliamentary acts, regulating the relations with state property, economic, financial and tax relations, is carried out by the State Control Committee.
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The china-belarus industrial park
The Industrial park is a territorial entity with the area of approximately 80 sq. km with a special legal status for the provision of comfortable conditions for business conducting.
Industrial park is situated in Smolevichy district, Minsk region, in the distance of 25 km from Minsk, the capital of the country, and occupies about 80 sq. km. Advantageous geographic position is stipulated by the close vicinity to Minsk National Airport and international highway M1 which extends to Moscow on the north (the distance of 700 km), and to Berlin on the south (the distance of 1000 km) as well as it has access to Klaipeda seaport in the Baltic Sea (the distance of 500 km).
On the Park territory production and living areas, offices and shopping malls, financial, and research centers are planned to be located. In fact, a modern international eco-city is being built with an emphasis on high-tech and competitive innovation productions with high export potential. The project is developed within the framework of the China-Belarus intergovernmental cooperation and the relevant signed intergovernmental agreements. Any company regardless of country of capital origin can act as a resident of the industrial park.
Realizing intense competition for an investor in the world market, the state has created a favorable investment climate for industrial park residents, as guaranteed by the national law, special international agreements and obligations; has provided unprecedented benefits and preferences, has formed a separate and independent body which carries out administrative end-to-end servicing on the basis of “one stop” service. When new taxes and fees are established on the territory of the Republic, obligation to pay such taxes and fees for Park residents does not arise.
Coming to the Park an investor receives a ready transport and engineering infrastructure conducted to the selected land plot. Construction of infrastructure in the Park and its connection with investor facilities is provided by the management company. In order to use the best practices on the territory of the Park opportunity to design according to technical standards of foreign countries is provided in case they meet the requirements for operational safety, reliability of the main design decisions, fire and explosive hazardous facilities. An investor can get land plots for use (lease) on the territory of the Park for the period of 99 years or own the said land plots. Rent and sale of land plots is carried out by the management company.
At present design works are being carried out; in the second half of the year 2013 construction of the main transport and engineering infrastructure was scheduled to be started. At the very moment land plots are being chosen for potential investors for the purpose of design (“binding to the locality”) of specific objects.
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