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Information and Communication Technologies
Development in Belarus and Opportunities for Foreign Companies
Belarus High
Technologies Park
In 2005 Belarus
has launched a new ambitious national project – creation of High
Technologies Park (HTP). The Park plays a pivotal role in Belarusian IT
industry development and growth. HTP draws together synergies among
industries and academy to create an optimal business environment where
products move towards commercialization.
About
Belarus
No wonder that
Belarusian leadership supported the idea of creation HTP: Belarus possesses
economic, intellectual and technological potential to implement this
project.
Belarus is
located in the center of Europe. It borders on Poland, Lithuania, Latvia,
Russia and Ukraine.
With a
population of 9.5 million, Belarus is a polyethnic state. It is represented
by 130 nationalities with the predominance of Belarusians, who constitute
over 80 percent of the country’s population.
UNCTAD
Developing Countries in International Trade 2007 Report places Belarus at
the 57th position in the world and includes it in the group of the most
dynamically developing countries in the CIS.
Among the
strongest features of Belarus UNCTAD experts specifically highlighted high
indicators of economic and social welfare of the population and the growth
of foreign trade. By these indicators, Belarus ranks 34th in the world and
is way ahead of all CIS countries.
According to
the UNDP 2007 Human Development Report, Belarus has improved its human
development indicators and for the first time became a country with a high
level of human development. Compared with 2006, Belarus switched from the
67th to 64th position – the best result among all CIS countries.
According to
the Word Bank, Belarus has larger spending on sustaining living standards of
the population than any other country of the former Soviet
Union – US$ 3,900 per capita. The average public spending per capita
worldwide is US$ 4,870.
With the
country’s stable political situation, low crime and corruption rate, absence
of any conflicts of national or religious nature, such indices attract more
and more investors to this country every year.
Economy of
Belarus is export-oriented by its structure and scale of production. Belarus
produces machine-tools, electronic equipment, motor-vehicles, tractors,
agricultural machines, synthetic fibers, mineral fertilizers, pharmaceutics,
construction materials, food, etc.
Belarus is
known all over the world by its heavy machinery. Each 10th tractor in the
world is produced in Minsk. The Belarusian Automobile Plant has developed
and manufactured a super-high-powered dump truck of 320 tons.
Nowadays
Belarus is going through an exciting phase of development and economy
transformation, where IT sector becomes the fastest growing sector of the
economy. More and more often Belarus is referred to as comfortable business
environment for IT industry development and a preferred destination for IT
outsourcing.
Belarus –
Silicon Valley of the former Soviet Union
Historically,
Belarus was one of the most technologically advanced republics of the former
Soviet Union. Belarus' competitive strength in software and IT services is
based on a unique 50 year-old tradition of multi-generational IT skills. The
highly qualified workforce is trained within traditionally strong education
and research and development systems. Belarus was regarded as the Silicon
Valley of the former Soviet Union, manufacturing over 50 per cent of the
computers and computer components in the former USSR.
Nowadays
Belarusian Software and IT Services sector is one of the most successful and
fastest growing industries in Belarus.
After the
collapse of the USSR, the majority of skilled IT specialists were not lost
and became got involved in open-market IT businesses. Besides, the main
Research and Development institutions and centers managed to survive and
saved their intellectual resources. In early 1990s, Belarus’ IT market and
its engineering resources started attracting attention of big international
vendors. A few joint ventures were set up at that time to develop
international IT business from Belarusian territory.
As a result of
its historical development, Belarus’ schools of information systems
development and programming have accumulated profound experience which is
considered to be one of the key factors in the modern IT industry. The
practical business skills gained by the leading Belarus IT companies
activate the above mentioned resources thus enabling the engagement of
Belarus as a mature player in the global IT market.
In summer 2004
Trestle Group conducted a survey among upper-level management around the
globe. Responses were collected primarily from the financial services,
telecommunications and manufacturing sectors based in 16 countries – 70 per
cent from EU member states. The survey shows an increase in outsourcing
activity in Eastern Europe. When asked about the preferred outsourcing
destination, 22 per cent of respondents named Belarus as a preferred
destination for IT outsourcing taking into account proximity, government
support and reduced labour costs.
The two largest
Belarusian enterprises, IBA Group and EPAM Systems, were the first in Europe
to achieve the SEI CMMI® (Software Engineering Institute's Capability
Maturity Model Integration) Level 4 Rating. A CMMI rating provides for
organization's worldwide recognition as a quality provider of systems
engineering, software engineering, and IT services.
Belarus hosts
the largest and most established European IT outsourcing providers based
east of Germany. Two of these providers, EPAM and IBA, were recognized in
the Top 5 to Watch in Central and Eastern Europe list in the first annual
"Offshore 100" round-up of top global offshore ITO and BPO service providers
by neoIT and CMP's Managing Offshore.
Such
Belarus-based companies as EPAM Systems and Itransition were listed in
Software 500 which is an annual revenue-based ranking of largest software
and service providers in the world.
These and other
Belarusian IT companies have world-class project management infrastructure,
international certification and successfully serve world-renowned clients,
including IBM, Colgate-Palmolive, Samsung, Siemens, Alcatel, British
Telecom, Ford-Union, Microsoft.
Over 75 per
cent of all software development and related IT services in Belarus are
export-oriented. The annual growth of the export-oriented IT industry of
Belarus is 35-40 per cent.
The High
Technologies Park
The Park was
set up by the Decree of the President of Belarus in September 2005. The
creation of the Park is aimed at developing modern information technologies
and expanding their export, as well as attracting to the sector IT know-how.
High
Technologies Park was also formed to consolidate the IT industry of Belarus
by concentrating its intellectual and scientific resources within a
world-class techno park. Residents and investors of High Technologies Park
are exempt from all taxes.
In the future
the Park’s scope will include other promising areas: biotechnologies,
nanotechnologies, green integrated technologies, etc.
Since 2005,
over 40 domestic and foreign companies-software developers and exporters
have become the Hi-Tech Park residents. In 2007 the Belarusian office of one
of the leading European company TietoEnator joined the Park. For the time
being, this company ranks the fifth among the largest European
companies-software developers with an annual turnover of more than 2 bln USD.
Its share in the world IT market is 1.3 per cent.
The volume of
production of software for export by the HTP resident-companies in 2007
increased by more than two times compared with 2006.
The Hi-Tech
Park project stands out of other departmental projects due to the fact that
the Hi-Tech Park is viewed as a national project and is supervised
personally by the President of the Republic of Belarus.
To benchmark
and learn from experiences of other innovative clusters the Hi-Tech Park has
signed a number of Memoranda of Understanding with the parks of China,
Finland, Armenia, Republic of Korea, etc. Through international cooperation
the Park’s administration is seeking to transform HTP into a great
innovation cluster, fostering technology exchange, technology
commercialization, and technology marketing.
The
administration of the Park is developing a business plan of building its
infrastructure. HTP’s infrastructure will include five zones: science and
production area; residential area; public, business and education area;
public and sport area, and long-range area. In the first area on almost 15
hectares scientific premises and production facilities for IT companies will
be built. The residential area (about 9 hectares) will include residential
housing and social infrastructure. IT companies will have their offices in
public and business centre. In this area IT Academy, its hostel and a hotel
are also planned to be built. Social and recreation zone will consist of
gyms, swimming pools, restaurant, etc.
HTP symbolizes
a culture in which the fruits of growth are returned to society and
educational institutions. HTP builds industry-academia programmes and
bolster corporate competitiveness through the systematic sharing of
information. The research-oriented universities foster practical programmes
that encourage collaboration with industry. There is a multitude of
cooperation between them and corporations.
The
administration of the Park looks forward to taking a proactive approach to
addressing the concerns and needs of various stakeholders, so that they can
foster partnerships that not only endure the test of time but meet the
demands of discerning consumers.
Contacts:
Administration of the High Technologies Park
Business-center XXI Century
169
Nezavisimosty Ave., Minsk, Belarus
Tel.: +375
(17) 218-1935
Fax: +375
(17) 218-1908
http://www.park.by
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