EU developing new support program for SMEs in Belarus

The European Union is developing a new support program for small and medium-sized businesses in Belarus, Andrea Wiktorin, head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, said Thursday in Minsk while speaking at a conference titled “Reforms for Inclusive Growth.”

According to Ms. Wiktorin, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises will make Belarus more competitive.

She said that as a German national she believed that small and medium-sized businesses were the backbone of the economy and it was right to develop them.

Ms. Wiktorin noted the EU’s intention to support Belarus in its efforts to join the World Trade Organization and said that the issue would be discussed at the Belarusian foreign ministry in mid-November.

She emphasized the importance of carrying out economic reforms in Belarus.

She pointed out that since the EU was one of Belarus’ main trading partners and the main investor in the country, it was interested in seeing Belarus as a prosperous and independent neighbor.