Great Stone Industrial Park
Created in 2012 by the Belarusian government with the support of policymakers in Beijing, Great Stone Industrial Park is the largest international industrial park with Chinese investment and a cornerstone of Belarus’s commitment to the Belt and Road project.
The park leverages Belarus’s strategic location on one of the main transport corridors connecting Europe and Asia, as well as its access to two of the world’s largest consumer markets, the European Union and Eurasian Economic Union.
Situated 25 kilometres from Minsk, Great Stone has excellent transportation links via international rail lines, the Berlin-Moscow transnational highway and Belarus’s main international airport.
Residents can buy or rent land plots, and can benefit from a number of incentives, including exemptions from income tax, real estate and land tax, customs fees and VAT on raw materials and components, and dividend tax.
Work on the first stage of the park, which covers 8.5 square kilometres, is well under way and will be completed by the end of 2020. The facility already boasts warehouses, a business centre and the largest exhibition centre in Belarus.
By the end of May, the park had attracted 56 residents, including 31 from China, as well as others from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Israel, Lithuania, Russia and the US. Together, they have pledged to invest more than $1 billion in the facility, of which more than half has already been spent.
During the current awards period, 10 firms moved to Great Stone, while another 10 commenced production.
Last year, a one-stop-shop for potential residents was introduced, resulting in a doubling of the number of applications, as well as the start of construction work on the park’s first residential building and a centre for cooperation on R&D.
In the 12 months to the end of May, Great Stone’s head of administration, Alexander Yaroshenko, also oversaw the establishment of partnerships with the EBRD, IFC, the Eurasian Development Bank and Priorbank.