Upgrading SME Capacity Through Business Support Services in Belarus

The government of Belarus has been increasingly supporting private sector participation in the economy. Steady progress has been achieved in eliminating administrative burdens for businesses, streamlining procedures for opening a new business, and introducing electronic interfaces to facilitate interaction with government bodies.

However, small and medium enterprises still contribute little to the economy’s employment and value creation. In 2013, SMEs accounted for less than 40% of total employment, compared to 60-70% in OECD and EU countries.

Targeted reforms to support SME development, and specifically to improve enterprise skills through business support services, could boost the competitiveness of the SME sector and its contribution to the country’s economy.

The OECD, in co-operation with the Ministry of Economy of Belarus, initiated a project on ‘Upgrading SME capacity through business support services’ in autumn 2015. Building on the key findings from the SME Policy Index 2016, the project aims to enhance the country’s competitiveness through a better SME policy making.

The OECD assists the Government of Belarus through analysis and evidence-based recommendations, particularly the Ministry of Economy. It also provides advice on the implementation of concrete and tailored measures supporting policy reforms to enhance convergence with the Small Business Act for Europe. The project is co-funded by the European Union.

The project’s Steering Group is chaired by the Minister of Economy, Mr. Vladimir Zinovskiy and the project’s Working Group is chaired by the Deputy Minister of Economy, Ms. Irina Kostevich. The two groups were created as governance and technical instruments to ensure policy coordination among stakeholders and to develop policy recommendations for SME development with representatives from the public sector, the local business community, and international experts .

In November 2016, the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Roundtable will bring together high-level government and private sector representatives from across the Eurasia region and OECD member countries to carry out a peer-review and provide feedback on the outputs of the project.

Belarus - Key facts

Belarus ranks 44th out of 189 economies in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, and 12th in the “Starting a Business” dimension, which is an improvement of 27 ranks since 2015.

in 2005, it took 79 days, 16 procedures and 25.3% of income per capita to start a business
10 years later, it took only 3 days, 3 procedures, and 0.9% of income per capita to start a business

Events

The first Working Group meeting (WG1) will present initial findings on the mapping of the business support service infrastructure in Belarus - January 2016
In WG2, the results of surveys on demand and supply of business support services will be presented and international good practices will be discussed - April 2016
In WG3, the OECD will share preliminary recommendations to upgrade Belarus’ business support infrastructure - June 2016
WG4 will serve to discuss a draft policy reform roadmap and prepare for the peer review - October 2016
The project will be peer reviewed at the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Roundtable in November 2016

Press area

Press release - Ministry of Economy of Belarus

Contact us

Daniel QUADBECK:
daniel.quadbeck@oecd.org

Co-funded by the European Union