Business news

MINSK, 12 March (BelTA) – Plans have been made to open a business incubator in Belarus’ Hi-Tech Park by the end of April, BelTA learned from Valery Tsepkalo, Director of the state institution Administration of the Hi-Tech Park, on 12 March.

“Construction and installation operations are over. We are buying furniture and performing startup and commissioning. We plan to arrange a major event in the business incubator on 23 April. The facility should be ready by that time,” said the official.

The Director of the Hi-Tech Park Administration noted that opening the business incubator is one of the key tasks for the park in 2015. “We plan to offer the largest coworking space in the ex-USSR and maybe even in Europe,” he stressed. This form of work is popular among freelancers and teleworkers such as translators, programmers, and designers.

“Our task is to allow talented young people to communicate, carry out joint projects together, participate in conferences and seminars. All of that will be available in our business incubator. We would like to bring people with new ideas and people able to implement those ideas into one location,” said Valery Tsepkalo.

At present Belarus’ Hi-Tech Park is home to 137 companies. In 2014 as many as 12 companies were registered as residents of the Hi-Tech Park. As many as 58 companies (42% of the total) have been founded by Belarusian investors, 46 companies (34%) have been founded by foreign investors, and 33 companies (24%) are joint ventures. As of 1 January 2015 over 20,000 people worked in Belarus’ Hi-Tech Park. In 2014 as many as 2,957 jobs were created.