About 140 entrepreneurs “from across Belarus” visited the Independence Palace, where after a tour they spoke with Prime Minister Aliaksandr Turchyn. The government press service said the initiative came from representatives of small and medium-sized businesses themselves.
It is claimed that during one of the tours, they conveyed a request to Aliaksandr Lukashenka to visit the Independence Palace, and he supported it.
After the three-hour tour, the prime minister joined the entrepreneurs. His arrival was described as “unexpected.” The two-hour meeting focused on competition, protection of the domestic market, support for domestic producers, import quality, the development of farms and tourism, innovation financing, digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence.
Turchyn separately focused on fair competition and protecting the domestic market from low-quality imports. According to him, the government intends to stimulate domestic producers rather than restrict imports, while measures against low-quality imported products will be tightened.
“The government will take every measure to stimulate domestic producers, not to restrict imports. But the fight against low-quality imports will only intensify, I say this openly. We must ensure fair and equitable competition in our market and protect our consumers from low-quality imports. The government will take the strictest measures in this area,” he said.
Another topic was price regulation. Turchyn noted that the government continues to monitor the prices of goods. If sharp increases are recorded for individual products, they may be returned to the list of goods whose prices are regulated by the state.
“We hope for responsible business conduct. Let us act fairly. We need to balance the desire to make a profit with a reasonable approach to prices. We really would not want to return any products to the list,” Turchyn said.
Lukashenka’s press service called the event “team-building between business and the country’s leadership” and stressed that this format is being held at the Independence Palace for the first time.
