Belarusian-American Investment Forum. Open Dialogue in New York

The first Belarusian-American Investment Forum was held in New York on September 22. World’s largest companies and international financial institutions as well as the US and Belarusian government agencies took part in an open dialogue. The Belarusian delegation was headed by Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich.

Unlike the previous events, the forum was organized as a lively discussion of the most important for potential investors topics which were conventionally divided into three blocks: the investment climate in Belarus, the cooperation in the fields of information technology and science,and the development of trade and economic relations.

In his speech, Valery Tsepkalo, Director of the Hi-Tech Park administration, emphasized the software development capabilities of the HTP residents and the reliability of Belarusian companies for mutually beneficial partnership. The HTP foreign customers and investors provided a number of examples of successful cooperation with the Republic of Belarus.

Currently, software products and services delivered by the HTP resident-companies make up almost two-thirds of all Belarusian exports to the United States. The US remains the Hi-Tech Park’s largest export market; currently, the North American market accounts for 40% of the HTP resident-companies’exports.

A series of negotiations with the participation of American and international companies interested in cooperation with Belarusian software developers was held within the forum. Promising areas of cooperation in the field of education and training, protection of intellectual property rights and measures to improve practices in this area were discussed with representatives of Microsoft who offered to share their experience and knowledge in the context ofe-governmentimplementation. The parties also agreed that an expert group would visit Belarus in order to present solutions in the area of providing services to legal entities and individuals.

A meeting with the management of IBM – a multinational corporation headquartered in Armonk, NY, USA; one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of hardware, software and IT and consulting services – was held during the forum. The Belarusian delegation also visited one of the factories producing the elemental base for its own hardware and for a variety of electronic devices, including mobile phones. The American corporation expressed interest in creating a co-production of chips on the territory of the Republic of Belarus and in further development of cooperation with the Hi-Tech Park.

During the meeting with leaders of Cisco Systems, a world’s largest supplier of networking equipment, the possibilities of creating a research center for software development at the Hi-Tech Park.