China Provides Belarus with Additional Loan - Destination of Funds Unveiled
The Great Stone Industrial Park, a significant collaboration between Belarus and China, is progressing with a new loan agreement. The loan, worth ¥221 million (approximately $30.8 million), will be provided by China's Export-Import Bank and is scheduled to be received between 2025 and 2028 [1].
This loan will finance the first phase of the central part of the Great Stone Industrial Park, which spans over 112.5 km² and is located 25 km from Minsk. The park aims to create a high-tech industrial zone with developed infrastructure, including industrial and residential areas, office and shopping complexes, financial and research centres [2].
The park is currently forming a cluster of machine-building companies and plans for its future development include creating a multimodal railway terminal. Ambassador Zhang Wenxuan, the Chinese Ambassador to Belarus, attributes the success of the cooperation between the two countries to the close friendship between their leaders, with China-Belarus relations currently at a peak [3].
The Great Stone Industrial Park offers special legal regimes with numerous incentives for investors, attracting investments exceeding $0.5 million over three years or $5 million with no restrictions from enterprises involved in various sectors [5]. However, the exact total Chinese investment amount in the Great Stone Industrial Park as of 2022 is not explicitly provided in the search results [1][3][5].
The Chinese Ambassador to Belarus has stated that the two countries plan to continue promoting cooperation in line with the course set by their heads of state. The details of the cooperation beyond the industrial park were not detailed in the given paragraph [4].
References: [1] https://www.china.org.cn/china/2021-08/19/content_77888540.htm [2] https://www.belta.by/business/view/great-stone-industrial-park-to-attract-investment-of-15-bln-roubles-159121-2019/ [3] https://www.china.org.cn/china/2021-08/23/content_77902533.htm [4] https://www.belta.by/world/view/china-belarus-relations-at-peak-ambassador-95936-2021/ [5] https://www.belta.by/business/view/china-belarus-to-cooperate-on-development-of-great-stone-industrial-park-128451-2015/
The loan from China's Export-Import Bank will be used to finance the first phase of the Great Stone Industrial Park's central region, which is part of a larger high-tech industrial zone. This business venture, positioned for success with special legal regimes and incentives, aims to attract large investments in various sectors.
