Siarhei Balykin: Chinese-Belarusan Industrial Park project is doomed to failure on default

“No local project of such kind turned to be successful in Belarus yet. You can’t build happy market economy in such a controlled country”.

EuroBelarus Information Service has already reported about the complaints of the Belarusan ecologists concerning the legality of the public expertise of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park project. Siarhei Balykin, the economist, gives his assessment of the economic reasonability of this much-talked-of project.

- I have a feeling that the authors of all standard acts devoted to the project wanted to allot it with every possible facilities, as the whole number of preferences is unprecedented. Thus, during the first decade after the registration the residents of the park are exempted from income tax, real estate tax, land and municipal taxes. Next decade the taxes will remain and park residents are to pay only half the sum of the above mentioned taxes. The residents of the park are also exempted from the obligatory sale of currency earnings. However, I think that such programs as free economic zones and industrial parks are doomed to failure in Belarus.

- What about the widely-advertised success of the High Technologies Park?

- Silicon Valley has been involved and keeps being involved in production, whereas High Technologies Park is the community of contracting agencies and outsourcing companies which perform not very intellectual work. The goals are set abroad; final product is determined by the western customers as well, while our specialists perform the function of well-paid qualified IT-workers that always meet the deadline. I.e. this project has only legalized Belarusan programming specialists that worked on western companies before. Belarusan science and Belarusan technologies almost don’t benefit from that.

- Your point is clear. What about its Chinese project?

- I want to highlight once more that none of such projects has acquired the characteristics the government wanted to see in them. They have become local points where some quite successful enterprises are working, but it doesn’t resolve the problem. I think that the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park is the same project with highly set goals. No hard-working Chinese with money will save Belarusan economy. Local facilities will give local effect; but if one wants to change the situation in the country Belarus should become one large innovation technical park. We have smart people, qualified working force and some traditions, too. But in order to rescue the situation reforms that will provide equal free conditions for management are required.

- Well, will the country finally benefit from it besides possible ecological problems?

- The state will get some money for its budget, but there will be no transfer of technologies and nothing innovative in that. I don’t believe that the Chinese will bring super modern technologies to Belarus. So, roughly speaking, we’ll get not only the European “second-hand” model of technological thought, but a Chinese one, that we, Belarusans, will have to use till it is worn out. But we can’t build happy market economy throughout the whole country in such a situation, when everything is under control.