INNOVATIONS IN THE MEDICINAL PLANT MATERIALS INDUSTRY IN BELARUS BASED OF STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

The transition to an innovative path is not only an internal need for the country’s socio-economic development, but also its response to the global challenges of the world community. According to the Global Innovation Index 2017, the Republic of Belarus is ranked only 88th out of 120 worldwide. The article presents some areas of innovative development of the medicinal plant industry of the Republic of Belarus, identified on the basis of its strategic analysis. The results of the expert-based evaluation of the predicted absolute and relative effects are presented. While the introduction of innovations contributes to an increase in the functioning and competitiveness of the industry in the long run, excessive innovation activity leads to a decrease in the sustainability of the industry. Consequently, the problem of methodological substantiation of the innovative development of the medicinal plant raw materials industry on the basis of strategic analysis, which is proposed to be carried out in three stages, is being updated. The article focuses on the implementation of the third stage of the strategy, including the development of strategic guidelines for the activities of enterprises producing pharmaceutical raw materials. Particularly, it was deemed necessary to carry out the process of cultivating raw materials in a specific assortment that meets the needs of potential consumers, and through the use of domestic and foreign innovative developments (expanding and optimizing the product range), as well as introducing organic fertilizers obtained by anaerobic digestion using biogas equipment, in order to increase the productivity and turnover of the industry, which is confirmed by the expert estimates. Intensification of innovations in the industry under study will contribute to the growth of strategic sustainability of manufacturers, increase of the country’s pharmaceutical production with high-quality domestic raw materials, and the growth of competitiveness of the medicinal plant industry in the world market.