Baku,Azerbaijan-ADA Global Perspectives presented Ambassador Valery Tseplako, director of the Belarus Hi-Tech Park, speaking on the achievements of Belarus in attracting foreign investment and local development in the IT and services sectors.
Ambassador Tsepalko, a former deputy Foreign Minister and ambassador of Belarus to the US, described how, since its launch in 2006, the Belarus Hi-Tech Park has grown from 16 to 80 companies with 8000 employees and that three local companies had entered the Forbes 500 biggest IT companies list. Per capita income from IT-Services export in Belarus now equal that of India and far exceeds that of Russia, and between 2005 to 2008 the exports of the Hi-Tech Park grew twofold each year. Amb. Tsepkalo noted that none of this all would have been possible without the tax exemptions and a range of other types of incentives provided by the Belarus government.
He concluded by reiterating that he believed in great potential for cooperation between Azerbaijan and Belarus, and pointed to the first IT forum in Baku on February 9, 2010.
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