Japanese companies actively invest in Belarusian IT sector

Japanese companies actively invest in the development of the IT sector in Belarus, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Japan Sergei Rakhmanov said at the meeting of the heads of diplomatic missions of Belarus with representatives of the local business at the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, BelTA has learned.

“We have seen a significantly increase not only in the export of Belarusian goods to Japan but also in the amount of Japanese investments into the economy of our country. For example, Rakuten Inc., one of the world's largest e-commerce companies, has recently bought the popular messenger Viber, in the development of which the Belarusians participated, for $900 million. This is a very serious project, which indicates a high level of development of information technologies in our country,” said the diplomat.
The Horizont Holding company is doing well on this front too, according to the Ambassador. "For two years in a row, Horizont has been getting substantial investments in the form of spare parts from the Japanese firms Toshiba and Sharp. They jointly produce TV sets, including the largest ones in size in the post-Soviet space, and successfully sell them abroad," said Sergei Rakhmanov. Another positive example of cooperation between Belarus and Japan in IT is the joint Belarusian-Japanese venture LOTIS TII which produces laser equipment, 70% of which is delivered to Japan.

In addition, in September of this year, Belarus will host a large delegation (70 people) of Japanese firms. They are planning to meet with the Belarusian specialists, companies and organizations that work in the field of information technology.

“Today, Belarus’ positive image is supported thanks, among other things, to our active work in the area of rehabilitation of the regions affected by the accident at the nuclear power plant. After the Chernobyl accident, Japan was among the first countries to help Belarus. We remember this. Therefore after the accident at Fukushima, the Belarusian head of state took the decision to support Japan. We continue this work,” said Sergei Rakhmanov. For the third year in a row Belarus has hosted Japanese children from Fukushima for rehabilitation.