The Chairman of the Rakuten Corporation and Director of the Japanese Association of New Economy, Hiroshi Mikitani, praised the level of development of IT in Belarus and has taken a keen interest in detailed discussion of the prospects for co-operation and development. This was the focus of talks during the meeting between Mr. Mikitani and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Japan, Sergey Rakhmanov.
Mr. Mikitani remembered his successful visit to Belarus in November 2014 and expressed his desire to actively develop co-operation with Belarus in the IT sphere.
The meeting took place during an official event organised by the Rakuten Corporation which was also attended by representatives of the Japanese Parliament and Government, as well as the heads of large Japanese corporations and leading media.
The Belarusian Ambassador also had meetings with heads of companies which are part of Rakuten, as well as other IT companies attending the event. These were given invitations to take part in the presentation of the Belarusian High-Tech Park in Tokyo (scheduled for May), held with the assistance of the Japanese Association of Foreign Trade Development.
The Rakuten Corporation is one of the largest Japanese companies in the sphere of online trade and Internet services. It unites around 300 Internet shops in Japan and is one of the world’s largest venues in the area of online commerce. Alongside online trade in goods and services, the company also conducts financial activities, online trade in bonds, offering Internet and tourist services while also supporting professional sports teams and providing various Internet entertainments.
In 2014, the company bought the Viber mobile service, developed in Belarus.
By Alexander Bogomazov
