On 18 January, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko visited the site assigned for the construction of the High-Technology Park in Minsk. The Head of State was interested how his earlier instructions related to this vital national project had been fulfilled. It is noteworthy that the visit to the construction site of the High-Technology Park had not been planned beforehand.

The President already visited this site in October 2005, having given his assessment of the choice of the place for what was branded as the Belarusian silicon valley.

The Head of State also paid attention to the need to improve the amenities on the territories adjacent to the High-Tech Park, which belonged to the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. “[The amenities on these territories] should also be improved,” the President said.

The President was reported on the utilisation of the money allocated to revamp facilities belonging to the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and to enhance the production capacities of research institutions.

Then, Alexander Lukashenko visited the complex of buildings belonging to the Institute of Pharmacology and Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The Head of State surveyed the laboratories of the complex and talked to the research associates.

The conversation touched upon the issue of practical use of Belarusian know-hows; after all, the welfare and salaries of scientific workers heavily depend on how efficiently the results of their research are used. Here, Alexander Lukashenko said: “It was twenty years ago when one could sit idle in their office, hoping the government would solve all the material issues. Today both the situation is different and economy is different. Of course, the government will continue investing funds in science, but the scientists should also work hard in an effort to earn additional money by putting the results of their labour into practical use”.

While talking to the scientists, the Head of State said that the Year of Health, declared in Belarus, was conceived to address a whole range of issues, not just to boost physical culture and sports, revamp hospitals and medical centres, address the demographic problem, but also, which is especially important, to ensure further development of medical science. Alexander Lukashenko stressed that within this five-year planning period Belarusian scientists would have to tackle a challenging task which was to boost, in collaboration with manufacturers, the production of various effective medical products, with a view to improving the nation’s health. This work is targeted to address both import-substitution problem and to encourage Belarusian pharmacologists to create new innovative medicine.