How will Belarus develop over the next five years? On December 19, the Belarusian People's Congress approved the Socio-Economic Development Program. For the first time, the document was submitted to for consideration—it will become the foundation of the new five-year plan.

A tremendous amount of work has been done. The strategy and tactics for development were determined by virtually the entire country — the government, a specially created working group, and comments and suggestions were collected to ensure that the decisions fully meet the demands and aspirations of society. The five-year program will become law for the further activities of all state bodies and organizations.

The Prime Minister presented the socio-economic development program to the delegates. The goals for the five-year period are ambitious but realistic. This was the requirement of the head of state. The concept is based on a self-sufficient and competitive state. The general line of building a strong and prosperous Belarus continues. Future development is based on seven key priorities.

"The first priority is national demographic security, i.e., preserving the population, nation's health promotion, and supporting families. The second is developing human potential, providing quality education, and fostering harmonious and patriotic individuals. The third is creating a high-quality and comfortable living environment," Alexander Turchin said.

The fourth priority in the program is increasing competitiveness, accelerating technological development, and digital transformation. The fifth priority is strong regions, the sixth is strengthening the state's defense capabilities and developing the defense sector of the economy, and the seventh is realizing tourism potential.

In figures, the upcoming five-year plan looks like this: Belarus expects annual economic growth of at least 3% per year - over 5 years; GDP will grow by almost 16%. Investment growth of almost 17% is planned, and workforce productivity growth of almost 20%. Exports of goods and services should grow at a similar rate. According to government estimates, the income of Belarusians will increase by 21%.

As for economic objectives, the emphasis is on increasing technological sophistication, knowledge intensity, and robotization of production. This is mainly intended to increase external supplies. The geography of exports should grow to include countries in the far arc, reaching 30% by the end of the new five-year period. The focus is on the diversified development of regions and the elimination of imbalances in the labor market. Maximum attention is paid to young people. A comprehensive approach is taken to solving demographic challenges. And in order for Belarusians to live and work comfortably in both large cities and small towns, a comfortable living environment must be created.

Alexander Turchin noted that a high-quality and comfortable living environment primarily consists of housing, roads, transportation, and housing and communal services. Resources will be allocated for the construction and renovation of rental housing. This decision will help attract and retain qualified personnel in the regions.

"We will build where large industrial projects are planned and for workers in the most sought-after positions, young professionals. This will make the labor force mobile and allow people to look for a home near their work, rather than the other way around," said the Prime Minister.

Over the next five years, Belarus plans to build 5 million square meters of rental housing.

In total, it is planned to reconstruct, build, and overhaul at least 25,000 km of national and local roads.

"All roads from district centers to agricultural towns will have improved surfaces, and transport accessibility will increase. Travel time from populated areas to regional centers should not exceed an hour and a half. This is no more than traveling within Minsk," Alexander Turchin said.

For the first time, the five-year program is focused on strengthening defense capabilities. The growth of external threats is forcing the development of the country's own defense sector. Belarus will increase investment in the production of weapons, military, and special equipment.

"We're not going anywhere — we must have defense capabilities. We've already learned how to do some things in rocket engineering. So we talk about Oreshnik, Oreshnik… I didn't pay much attention to it, but Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin said to me: "Do you even know that Oreshnik is mostly produced in Belarus?" I said: "God bless you, this is the first time I've heard that," the Belarusian leader noted.

"It turns out that only the rocket, which is a complex technical structure, is Russian-made. And the rest of it - Belarusian," Alexander Lukashenko emphasized.

The President also spoke about the further development of missile production in Belarus. "We need a missile. The Russians have this missile. Of course, we will not be making the Oreshnik. It's very expensive. We could do it with the Russians. Moreover, I met with the designers who provide, among other things, a strategic shield for the Russian Federation. Our people speak the same language and understand each other," the Belarusian leader said.

The President has set the task of developing all areas in which Belarus is strong. If there is demand for our goods and services, then we need to capitalize on this! Especially since we have accumulated experience and expertise in various fields. This is a helping hand in further developing existing areas not only in the economy, but also in the social sphere. The head of state cites our education system as an example. Demand for it is growing, which enables us to increase the export of educational services.

The delegates spoke in support of the Socio-Economic Development Program. After voting, they unanimously adopted the document.