Belarus’ government officials have announced a plan aimed at attracting up to $7 billion in foreign investments over the course of the next year.

This represents a major shift in government policy for a state that has had Europe’s most centralized economy and has been widely seen as being authoritarian.

Yet the prospect of $7 billion in private investment looks likely to open up a part of the world still largely untapped by the western sector more than ever before.

Piotr Zhabko, the Belorussian deputy economy minister, pointed out that during the first half of the current year, foreign investment in Belarus reached $1.23 billion, representing a three-fold increase over figures from 2005.

There is no question that Russia remains the most prominent investor in the Belorussian economy, owing in large part to the fact that the two former Soviet republics have maintained close political ties, even when much of Europe and the West shunned Minsk.

Russian interests comprise over 33 percent of all foreign investments, followed by Switzerland at 20 percent, the United Kingdom at 14 percent and Austria at just under 11 percent.

Zhabko noted that what seems to attract investors the most to Belarus is that both the economic and political systems have remained stable over the years.

But Belarus is looking to take further steps in order to become one of the top 30 countries in the world in terms of attracting new foreign investment. This includes an eventual overhaul of tax laws and a more transparent bureaucracy.