Successful cases of preferential zones development were presented at the MNB-2023 site

Examples of the most successful industrial zones, the development of infrastructure sites, measures of state support for residents and staffing of their enterprises in the regions of Russia and abroad – all these topics were the subject of discussion of the industry section «Meeting of the NAAIR expert platform. Infrastructure", which was held as part of the International Business Week. The section was organized by the Development Corporation of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the National Association of Investment and Development Agencies (NAAIR). The speakers of the event were Evgeny Kravchenko, Deputy Director for Design and Analytical Work of the Association of Clusters, Technoparks and SEZS of Russia, Maxim Pazdnikov, Co-Chairman of the Board, Director for Development of the Association of Industrial Parks of Russia, Andrey Sobko, First Deputy Head of the Administration of the Free Economic Zone Gomel-Raton (Republic of Belarus), Head of the Department for Attraction investments of the Administration of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park "Great Stone" Peter Filipovich (Republic of Belarus), Director of the management company of the Industrial Park "Ufa" Artem Penzin and Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bashkortostan Nikolay Arbuzov. The section was moderated by the Executive Director of the NAAIR Raphael Husyainshin.

We discussed the development of industrial parks, special economic zones, and technoparks. We discussed the problems faced by the regions, including the shortage of qualified personnel and the scaling of resident projects. It turned out to be quite an open and interesting discussion, like all, in my opinion, the events of the International Business Week in Ufa," said Rafael Husyainshin.

Within the framework of the section, Deputy Director for Design and Analytical Work of AKIT RF Evgeny Kravchenko presented the classification of technoparks and examples of the most successful preferential zones of this type. He noted that the section helped the forum participants to understand the types of industrial infrastructure. Having considered concrete practical examples of the implementation of projects of all subspecies, the participants were able to verify the applicability of support tools. He also stressed that state support measures are actively involved in the creation and development of such facilities through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, Maxim Pazdnikov, Co-Chairman of the Board, Director for the Development of AIP of the Russian Federation, in his speech, focused the attention of speakers and participants on state support measures in industrial parks and SEZs, as well as on the unification of various infrastructure sites. As a successful example, he cited the special economic zone "Alga", which in June of this year included the territory of the industrial park "Ufa". Thus, as a result of the merger, new residents receive all tax, rental and customs benefits. He also noted the role of managing digs of preferential zones and the expansion of their competencies.

One of the most relevant topics of the section was the development of preferential zones of Bashkortostan, support measures operating in their territories and attracting investors. This was told to the participants by the director of the SEZ management company "Alga" Artem Penzin. In addition, he stressed the importance of the relationship between the authorities of the region and investors. That is why he called the meetings of "Investchas" under the leadership of the Head of Bashkortostan one of the most effective tools of interaction between business and government. The speaker also spoke about other tools that are being implemented in the work of the Development Corporation, the management company of the SEZ Alga and the Ufa Industrial Park. As an example, virtual tours of free investment sites of the republic were given, which this year were recognized as the "Best Scalable Practice" according to the results of the National Award "Leaders of Investment Development-2023", as well as the introduction of ESG principles into the activities of the management company.

Nail Gabbasov, General Director of the Development Corporation of the Republic of Bashkortostan, also commented on the work on the development of preferential zones in the region.

Being the management company of the largest preferential zones of the republic, we strive to create the most comfortable conditions for residents. The expansion of the SEZ also showed that we listen to investors and do everything so that they can implement their projects with the maximum list of support measures. I would like to note that in the current conditions, special economic zones continue to be one of the drivers of attracting investment to the regions, as well as one of the key tools for the development of their own production and import substitution, Nail Gabbasov said.

The participants discussed staffing options for residents of preferential zones in the framework of a speech by Nikolai Arbuzov, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Belarus, who stressed the need to consider the possibility of creating infrastructure for employees of enterprises in order to attract them to production as employees.

Representatives of the Administration of the Gomel-Raton FEZ Andrei Sobko and the Administration of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park Great Stone Pyotr Filipovich shared their experience in the development of preferential zones in Belarus, the advantages of localization of production on their territories, as well as support measures for residents.