From the forest to a mini-city. With what achievements does the Great Stone celebrate its 10th anniversary?

Kirill Koroteev First Deputy General DIRECTOR of SZAO "Company for the Development of the Industrial Park" Almost every month we write about what the new residents of the China-Belarus Industrial Park "Great Stone" will be doing. Usually they enter the park with plans to create industrial production, develop high-tech developments and logistics. In addition, the "mini-city" in the Smolevichi District is growing with jobs and housing, and very soon it will be possible to get to it by train. This year the park will celebrate its tenth anniversary, in connection with which we asked Kirill Koroteev, First Deputy General Director of SZAO "Company for the Development of the Industrial Park", what achievements "Great Stone" has to celebrate this round date.

- "Great Stone" has been operating for almost 10 years. What have we managed to achieve during this time?

- Despite all the challenges and negative factors of recent years, we have already created an engineering and transport infrastructure. There was nothing on the park's territory 10 years ago - a forest and a swamp. They did a huge dewatering here. Today, these are already the features of some kind of urban settlement. The basis is more than 30 km of roads and more than 300 km of utility networks, which are made with a reserve. For example, the park has treatment facilities for domestic wastewater with a capacity of 50 thousand people, as for a city. Accordingly, today they clean the wastewater not only of our buildings, but also of the airport and the Sokol microdistrict. Due to this, it became possible to build housing further, and recently a school was connected. Accordingly, we gave impetus to the development of the region. At the first stage of the park's development, the infrastructure was built on 850 hectares of land.
In addition, today we have facilities that allow us to show everyone - both potential investors and potential residents - that the park has already taken place. They can see how successfully the enterprises work and make a choice whether to invest in Belarus . When they see production, they ask about them, and this also greatly influences the decision-making process, because earlier it was difficult to talk specifically about the conditions with investors - it was like standing knee-deep in a swamp.

Now the park consists of 85 buildings and structures, 20 objects on the "Great Stone" are under construction and 49 are being designed. $940 million has been invested in all of this since the beginning of construction, of which only $43 million was budget funds (4.5% of the total). I believe that this is something to be proud of: we built the city's infrastructure with extra-budgetary money . For example, a fire station, a public road were built with budget funds, i.e. such elements that are not directly related to the park. Moreover, even these investments were more than four times covered by the taxes paid by residents, i.e.The Great Stone Park is profitable in every sense.
 
- Despite the difficult situation around Belarus, the Great Stone is growing every year. How is the park's infrastructure developing now?

- An important point for attracting residents today is the construction of standard production buildings. To date, we have built 11 such buildings - this is a little more than 102 thousand square meters. Accordingly, on average, we build 10 thousand square meters per year. This is the topic where we were the first. Previously, production facilities were always built for technology. We adapted the Chinese experience to our country, when a building is built without technology, with average loads, with specific analytics, so that any manufacturer can come here, quickly deploy its production with minimal modernization, modifications and launch it. Well, and capital investments, again, are not that big.
Hotels are also elements of the infrastructure. Today we have two of them - three and four stars, as well as an exhibition center, administrative buildings, a fire station, a warehouse, a customs clearance point. All this in a broad sense - elements of infrastructure that a resident sees, and this is what makes his life easier. Over the past time, everything has already been built and, accordingly, working in the park, there is no need to go anywhere. Administrative procedures are done on the "one-stop shop" principle.

As for the engineering and transport infrastructure, we are not stopping. Last year, the transition to the second stage of development of the territory took place. This year, work on it is expanding on a larger scale. The main construction volume will be done in order to put it into operation next year. This is a new plot of land, the development area of ​​​​417 hectares. This will be an extension of Beijing Avenue for about 6 km with the construction of a railway cargo terminal on an area of ​​​​41 hectares. There will be four railway tracks, almost a kilometer each, with the ability to handle cargo at the first stage of up to 180 thousand conventional 20-foot containers. This is also important from the point of view of creating a global infrastructure for the development of the project as a truly hub of the Silk Road.
- How many residents are in the park now? What results do they show?

- Today, there are 144 residents in the park. Of these 144 companies, 53 are operating, the rest are at different stages, there are still some pre-investment issues. Last year, the estimated revenue was Br1.5 billion, and the profit was about Br150 million. Revenue grew by 40% and it grows at approximately the same rate every year, profit has doubled. This is 10% of the actual profitability of net profit by revenue - a fairly good indicator. It shows that residents are not just earning, but are already starting to recoup their investment costs. And this is an average figure, because, naturally, at the first stage, someone has a more unprofitable activity, largeinvestments , entering the market, serious costs associated with starting up. But 10% for the park is a good indicator, we can also be proud of it.

In January, we registered two residents - one in the field of machine tool building with Russian capital, and the second company in the field of scientific research and development, energy saving systems with Swiss capital. On average, the park grows by 20 companies per year that really work.

- What areas does the park focus on when accepting residents? What areas are most relevant for you now?

- The most important criterion when registering a resident is that the investments are on the territory of the park, i.e. the location of the resident and the facility must be here. This is how we differ from the existing FEZ, HTP, because there companies can be located anywhere. Everything is compact here, there is a general plan. Our goal is not just to provide benefits, but also to develop this territory. This is the Chinese principle. This is exactly how they developed their FEZs, and cities then grew out of them, i.e. this is the principle of territorial investment.

The areas of activity of the residents were set at the stage of creating the legislation, when there were no outlines of the park yet. And our assessment of the current areas worked. Back then, we predicted and planned this in the Ministry of Economy.

The first area is mechanical engineering. Belarus has serious competencies in this regard, so it was logical to develop them in the park. Today, the mechanical engineering cluster in the park is very clearly visible - these are 29 manufacturers. The main ones are companies with Chinese capital. For example, the plant OOO "Zumlion Bel-Rus", which makes truck cranes with a lifting capacity of up to 60 tons. Now they will make excavators and loaders. Also in this cluster, we can highlight the manufacturer of gearboxes - Fast Gear. Diesel engines for trucks are made by Falcon Power.

This also includes a number of Belarusian manufacturers who specialize in machine tool building, because this is also our priority, which both the park and the country as a whole strive to develop. Therefore, this cluster has formed, is growing, and, accordingly, there is a tendency both to produce auto components for light automobile manufacturing and to increase competencies.

The second cluster is electronics. Here we have a number of manufacturers of server and computer equipment, who started in Belarus, simply assembling personal computers, and have already come to some elements of production of cases, monitors, monoblocks, plastic products, and so on.
 
The third area is the logistics cluster. The choice of the site was initially determined by the fact that logistics will be on a limited scale, i.e. it is controlled, only certain territories are provided for this industry. This is due to the presence of an airport nearby. The main project is a distribution center for a large marketplace, which will be the largest in Belarus. The second largest is a warehouse facility for 53 thousand warehouses of the corporation.CHINA Merchants Group, as well as a customs warehouse, two hotels and an exhibition center. This is complex logistics as understood by Chinese colleagues.
Now our Belarusian manufacturers or retailers who have made a business are thinking about moving on to production, so they also place their warehouses for specific needs. Land plots are purchased for them in our park and warehouse facilities are built.

The fourth area is the medical cluster, which includes 22 manufacturers of medical products, equipment and drugs.

- What trends are visible in the development of the medical cluster and what exactly do the residents produce?

- We have carried out certain work, including legislative work, so that we have economic benefits and certain concessions when registering products, when undergoing certain procedures related specifically to medicine in the context of the safety of consumption of these goods.

Here I would very much like to highlight the Belarusian manufacturer, which is already a flagship in the industry - Assomedica LLC. They started producing medical contours, then expanded and now manufacture various catheters, blood bags. They also came up with a new type of product - test systems for various diseases, narcotic substances,ALCOHOL , etc. There is a huge range of such tests. In addition, they produce equipment, compact portable ultrasound machines. This is an example of how a resident is constantly developing, reinvesting profits in its production.

In addition, there is the company OOO Veismed, which also produces medical products. This is already a whole line of surgical kits and instruments. OOO Delfidia produces gadgets and equipment for measuring pulse, HEALTH monitoring systems, as well as certain tests for these devices. There is also a manufacturer of various high-tech dressings, blood stops and other medical products in the cluster.

In the pharmaceutical industry, we have only one plant so far - this is a full-cycle manufacturer of veterinary drugs according to the requirements of GMP rules. Yes, this is veterinary medicine, but at the same time it is still a pharmaceutical group. One manufacturer of drugs is currently completing the modernization of the enterprise, and several are still being designed and built.

Our medical cluster has already definitely taken shape and is growing with new companies. Everything I have listed is already registered medical products manufactured in the park, which are sold both in our network and in the Russian Federation.

In general, we see and feel the results in the medical cluster and place a certain bet on its development. Moreover, even in the medium-term plans, we focus on medicine itself and medical services. In the park, we have not only production areas, but also recreational areas. Our industry is still environmentally friendly, there are certain requirements for this. Therefore, we plan to develop medical institutions. So far, the park has one small medical center operating on rented premises. We want to create, so to speak, a medical village for the development of tourism, because there are certain preferences in the field of medicine, when a drug, equipment or method that is registered in countries with high competencies in healthcare can be immediately used in the park, naturally, with the consent of the patient. This is done in order to provide access to foreign experience at an affordable cost. For example, to pharmaceutical developments, developments on equipment, to conduct some operation with the participation of a DOCTOR who arrived for a certain period of time to perform a number of tasks.

We plan to develop areas from specific medical services to spa treatment for foreign citizens and care for the elderly. We see great potential for Belarus and the park in the development of medical tourism.

- Another relevant topic is import substitution. How do residents implement this area?

- The vast majority of Great Stone residents are engaged in import substitution. Diesel engines, gearboxes, construction equipment, truck cranes, excavators, computer equipment - all this is import substitution. Even our manufacturers-exporters who produce medical products are replacing products that have left the market, supplying them to the Russian market, the EAEU market , and neighboring countries.

A good, interesting trend that we have been observing for the last two years, which I mentioned above, is that Belarusian businesses are coming to us, previously engaged in retail and former distributors of someone, for example, the same Western brands that are leaving the market. Belarusian businesses have begun to restructure and move from sales to production. This trend is very clearly visible, and the park helps to do this quickly, including thanks to standard production buildings. This is very good, because we have even shifted the focus from a foreign investor to our own business, which will remain here.

Here is the enterprise OOO "FarmAgroService" previously sold German products for veterinary medicine, some equipment. Now they are already producing and selling these products in our park, and it is cheaper than German analogues. The company "Heprotrade" was a supplier of cash register tape of various Western brands. Now import-substituting production has been established from our paper, which is made at the Svetlogorsk Pulp and Paper Mill.

The company Rontek Machine Tools used to be a seller of equipment, machine tools with numerical control, being a dealer of the Chinese enterprise Deep Precision. Now, together with the same partners, they are already producing machine tools here. It is clear that the main part still goes to imported components, but their own localization is already taking place. In parallel, this resident produces precision (high-precision) machine tools on rented premises and is building a plant for the corresponding project. It will be put into operation this year. This equipment will have a Belarusian frame, elements, software. This is also a very bright example of import substitution.

Equipment is currently being installed, and this year the park will also begin producing hockey equipment for professional sports. There are only three or four such manufacturers in the world. Now there will be one in Belarus under the Soyuz brand. Hockey sticks, pucks, shields and other sports equipment made of carbon will be produced here.

- How many Belarusians work in Great Stone and under what conditions? To what extent are the park employees provided with housing?

- In total, about 3.5 thousand people work in Great Stone every day. Residents have about 3 thousand. By 2030, we predict an increase to 11 thousand people already for those productions that are planned. Most of them are Belarusians, only about 10% are Chinese citizens. Average salaryin the park is about Br3.5 thousand, it is higher than the national average, these are also certain achievements of ours, because one of the goals of the park is to create an opportunity to improve the well-being of society.

We continue to fulfill our mission to create jobs, including creating conditions for housing construction. "Great Stone" was initially positioned as a mini-city, and we first focused on the creation of industries, and then on social infrastructure. Well, this time is coming. We already have experience - one house with 156 apartments is fully occupied, there is demand. This is rental housing built by us, equipped with everything necessary (bed, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.).

This year, the construction of the second house with 173 apartments will begin. We plan to build three rental houses, and then move on to more massive construction of residential buildings, especially since the socio-economic development program for this year already includes the construction of a high-speed rail passenger service from the center of MINSK to the airport with a stop in the park. The design documentation has undergone discussions, public examinations, and construction will begin this year. When passenger service is established, we will continue to develop both production and housing in parallel.

Photo by Tatyana MATUSEVICH,
BELTA.