The Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR) is a group of Russian regions established to support and promote innovative economic, scientific, technical, and educational projects. The Association was founded on May 10, 2010 with support from the Ministry of Economic Development, Rusnano, and the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. The Association consists of the 14 most innovative regions: Republic of Bashkortostan, Republic of Mordovia, Republic of Tatarstan, Altai Territory, Krasnodar Territory, Perm Territory, and Irkutsk, Kaluga, Lipetsk, Novosibirsk, Samara, Tomsk, Tyumen, and Ulyanovsk Regions.
A large number of investment projects are currently under way in Belarus. The country offers an attractive business environment. It was ranked 37th in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 report, second only to Kazakhstan among the CIS countries. Over the past 10 years, 37 reforms have been implemented in Belarus, helping the country to fifth place in terms of reforms facilitating business in the country.
In the 2016 Human Development Index, Belarus came second after Russia within the CIS and 52nd out of 188 countries overall.
At SPIEF 2017, Belarus will be represented by the National Centre for Marketing the Republic of Belarus, as well as the leading enterprises from Belneftekhim Concern, the pharmaceutical industry, and the healthcare sector, and the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Belarus.