A vibrant private sector – with firms investing, creating jobs and improving productivity – promotes growth and expands opportunities for poor people. That is why governments around the world have implemented wide-ranging reforms including macro-stabilization programs, price liberalization, and privatization.

The study “Improving the Business Environment in Belarus” prepared in 2003 explores the constraints on competitiveness and profitability and makes recommendations for improving business and economic activity regulations providing for establishment of more predictable and less stringent environment for development of small and medium private enterprises. The methodology of the study – surveys of enterprise managers and focus groups – contribute to better understanding of the enforcement of regulatory norms at an enterprise level, across sectors and regions.