Belarus Reality and Prospects

Belarus Competitive Advantage An educated labour force Relatively low labour costs An industrial culture Vafourable geographical location Stable society Conditions are in place for rapid increases in productivity

Human Development Index Belarus ranked 56 in HDI – the best of CIS (Russia and Ukraine 60 and 80 respectively)

Not so optimistic – FDI of GDP Result of: Postponed liberalisation Administrative barriers Lack of clear development strategy for the country Attitude to foreign investors

UNDP in Belarus

Our Major Donors GEF – NCSA, Biomass energy EU – Women and Drug Trafficking Government – SME, SHDS, Innovation activity, Chernobyl, ICT Japan – Gender in Development OSI – ICT and HIV/AIDS

Our Partners Out of 25 projects – 16 are NGO executed or have NGOs actively involved Government organisations Research institutes and Universities

Our Competitive Advantage Unique role of UNDP in Belarus as a major donor Balanced approach – active involvement and sustainable partnership with government and non-government sector High credibility and transparency

Potential Areas of Cooperation with Emerging Donors Small business development, including enterprises restructuring projects Environmental issues, including economic interface – Chernobyl and bordering areas Human rights projects – new set of HR project is under development Development of court system Local governance ICT