1 September 2014

Belarus managed to outrun such recognized world leaders in the IT sphere as India and the United States in computer services exports in 2013.The data was published on the World Trade Organization website, BelTA has learned. Thus, in 2013 the computer services exports in Belarus totaled about $60 per capita, while in India the same index equaled $41 and in the United States – $36.

Altogether, Belarus exports of computer services amounted to $552 million last year. Though the same index is much higher in many countries (e.g. it is $2.508 billion in Russia and $2.151 billion in Denmark), their balance is negative (in Russia it is “minus” $400 million and in Denmark – “minus” $225 million) because they develop software products abroad and actively buy and implement imported solutions.

In 2013, Belarus balance of computer services was positive and exceeded $480 million. Among the countries of the Customs Union, Belarus is the only one to have a positive balance of computer services; moreover, the figure has been growing for the last five years in our country. Thus, in 2009 it equaled $121.5 million, in 2010 – $172.1 million, in 2011 – $227.6 million, in 2012 – $352.1 million and in 2013 – $400.1 million.

The Hi-Tech Park is a major provider of computer services in Belarus. In 2013, its exports totaled $446.7 million, or over 80% of the national exports. In the first half of 2014, the HTP exports of software and services came to $246.1 million.

“The creation of the Hi-Tech Park enabled Belarus to get a mature industry of software development known not just in Belarus but worldwide in a relatively short period of time – less than nine years. The time it took us to surpass many countries in computer services exports per capita. For example, back in 2009, according to Forbes, Belarus lagged behind India in view of this index. Now we are ahead of both India and the US,” Valery Tsepkalo, Director of the Hi-Tech Park Administration, told BelTA. 

He also emphasized that the Belarusian IT companies became known not just as B2B (business-to-business) developers among a small number of professionals: “We have a B2C model – business-to-consumer. It is about software products with a huge amount of copies. The World of Tanks or Viber are good examples. Apalon is now our rising star – its developers also make successful products for the mass market. While B2B does not actually create the brand and is not very popular as it is focused on a narrow circle of professionals only, B2C creates the brand which significantly contributes to the value of the company and its products. And we are proud of it. India, for example, has not managed to create any world-renowned B2C product, although it has been developing the sector for over 30 years and undoubtedly succeeded in customer software development.”

Valery Tsepkalo also noted that the main objective of the HTP Administration is to create the best environment for the development of ICT companies. “What is the strength of Silicon Valley, for example? It constitutes a certain environment with a high concentration of professionals in a particular field. If a person has an idea, they can always find a partner to implement it. As for the Hi-Tech Park, I believe that the creation of such an environment is progressing at a good rate; a definite break has already occurred and such names as EPAM, Viber and the World of Tanks are currently known throughout the world. We are sure that a lot of new companies and projects are to appear within the HTP which will become not less popular all over the world than the companies from Silicon Valley,” said the HTP Administration Director.