Expert on how Belarus ensured its technological security
The domestic industry as a whole has managed to level out the negative trends that Belarus’ economy has faced in recent years, but the time is serious and requires the strictest discipline. Belarusian products must be at the highest level, since the future of the country and its people relies on this. Aleksei Avdonin, an expert at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, speculated on the topic of technological sovereignty in his talk with Alfa Radio.
Import substitution is the top priority for the Belarusian industry, and – as noted by Aleksandr Lukashenko – each critical position shows the country’s weak points, against which competitors impose sanctions later. The President insists that measures must be taken to ensure maximum technological independence, and the expert delved into history in this regard.
“After WWII, Western corporations were looking for the most profitable areas of commercial activity for a long time. At some stage, they determined that science and technology could generate most money per unit of time, so it was technology that made it possible for corporations – that conditionally invested $1bn into R&D – to subsequently generate ten times more in production. Microelectronics, mechanical engineering, communications, space, chemistry, and production of motor fuels and oils were the relevant areas that greatly contributed to the possibility of making money. Just in order to sell their technological equipment, it was necessary to make sure that the countries to which they exported it had neither their own science, nor their own industry, nor the mechanisation of agriculture. As a result, certain states and even regions were getting hooked on their goods and technologies. A similar situation happened after the USSR collapse, when Western corporations did firstly everything to destroy industry and science there and then simply put the issue as the established fact: the former Soviet republics were to buy everything from them,” the expert said.
Mr. Avdonin agreed that the post-Soviet states had been forced to do that for a long time, “However, thanks to the position of Aleksandr Lukashenko, his insightful understanding of the economic laws and development of socio-economic processes in close co-operation with technology and production, Belarus has preserved its factories that produce agricultural machinery. This means that the country’s agriculture is mechanised and, accordingly, the branch enjoys high efficiency. Belarus has its own engineering industry, and trucks are produced domestically. This means construction can be carried out quickly and efficiently. We have our own buses, so we can ensure rapid transportation of the labour force between regions and thereby contribute to an economic growth. We have our own science, which provides technological solutions for engineering, agriculture, and telecommunications. All this suggests that we have also realised what we can make money on, and Belarus now boasts a fairly high rate of economic growth.”
According to the expert, the Head of State notes that competition in the world is extremely high. “This competition inspires our managers to demonstrate efficiency, flexible consciousness, intelligence, quick understanding of the market, and restructuring of production. In any case, it is necessary to measure the efficiency of the organisational system of a certain enterprise with the final result: whether products are sold or not,” Mr. Avdonin concluded.
