Japan to Offer Loans, Tips for Russian IT
Hoping to realize the potential of its much talked-about domestic Information Technology industry, Russia has turned to a country, that practically re-invented itself through a hi-tech revolution.
Jul 12, 2005
Members of Russia's IT sector met their Japanese counterparts at a forum on Monday to discuss ways of setting up financial and information exchange between the two superpowers.
Both sides promised that the end result will be more than words at this week's Japanese-Russian Informational technologies strategy forum, held at the Konstantinovsky Palace, on the outskirts of the city.
"There are a lot of unsolved questions between our countries, but our businesses are involved in active interaction. A direct opinion exchange and discussion during this conference will lead to the carrying out of projects," Ryoki Sugita, president of Japan's top financial daily Nihon Keizai, and head of the Japanese delegation, said at the forum.
The conference coincides with the 150th anniversary of Russia-Japan diplomatic relations. A 100-strong Japanese delegation arrived in St. Petersburg to discuss three main issues: educational, intergovernmental and business relations between the two countries.
At the top of the agenda stood Russia's abundance of well-qualified staff, who are not always well employed.
Annually 230,000 technical specialists graduate from Russian universities - a core of people that has "no less potential than the Indian or Chinese specialists," said Iwata Satoshi, Japanese deputy director of the commerce and information policy department.
Despite having "an abundance in human resources," Russia's IT remains weaker than its global competitors, said Victor Naumov, head of intellectual property and informational technology protection at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.
"High technologies cooperation will be advantageous for Russia. ... International projects can employ those idle resources," Naumov said Monday in a telephone interview.
On the back of a surging IT industry, Japan managed to recover after its economic depression of the '90s, and now the sector accounts for 12.7 percent of the country's economy, Hiroshi Matsui, the Japanese deputy minister for internal affairs and communications, said at the forum.
The Japanese experience may prove useful for Russia.
"Russian-Japanese cooperation has become more definite in the last two years. Japanese companies are interested in Russian IT firms and services, especially in software outsourcing," said Julia Rovinskaya, spokeswoman for Auriga, a Russian software developer.
"Already several Japanese delegations have visited Moscow and St. Petersburg software companies to establish business relations," she said.
Among the results of this successful cooperation, Rovinskaya named projects involving CRM (customer relations management system) and Internet technologies. To that Naumov adds software design, applied and innovative research and other fields of intellectual interaction.
Far from being simply a client of Russian IT firms, the Japanese are an active exporter of their hi-tech products to Russia. Last year Japanese exports to Russia rose by 50 percent.
"We run technology exchange projects with several Japanese companies. We have a license from the largest Japanese cellphone operator NTT DoCoMo to launch i-mode [mobile content] services," said Pavel Nefyodov, public relations director at MTS in Moscow. The i-mode service will be introduced by September in Moscow and St. Petersburg, he said.
Part of Japan's success in boosting its exports has come from the willingness of Japanese banks to offer Russian companies attractive loan packages that stimulate spending on Japanese software and equipment. JBIC (Japanese Bank for International Cooperation) was established for just this purpose. It also lends money to Japanese companies to support their international activity.
Long-distance operator Rostelecom became last year the first Russian company to receive a direct loan from JBIC, without needing guarantees from the Russian government and banks. The $2.7-million loan was used by the state-owned firm to buy modern telecom equipment for Rostelecom Surgut-Tyumen from Japanese hi-tech giant NEC.
The company is currently preparing to apply for a second loan agreement with JBIC, Rostelecom's press service confirmed Monday. It would not give any further details.
The managing director of JBIC, Koji Tahami, said at the forum that the loan may total as much as $9 million, to be spent on a fiber-optic network project. Tahami said that Rostelecom could be considered for a loan because of the company's financial transparency, confirmed by Standard & Poor's credit rating.
Lack of transparency among many Russian companies restricted other loan possibilities, he said.
Company loan schemes, little practiced by the domestic banks, met with vivid interest from the Russian members of the forum.
St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko expressed hope that this week's forum will contribute to Japanese participation in infrastructure development projects, with electricity supply and transport systems among them.
"To become an innovation center is our target," Matviyenko said. "St. Petersburg is the most favorable place for Japanese companies to enter the Russian market," she said.
The city already enjoys a strong IT community, with multinationals such as Intel, Motorola and LG Electronics working alongside domestic firms.
"The growth rate of the Russian IT sector exceeds that of the world's average. It gives us hope for successful, international development," Vladimir Matyukhin, head of innovation technologies federal agency, said at the forum.
Both sides promised that the end result will be more than words at this week's Japanese-Russian Informational technologies strategy forum, held at the Konstantinovsky Palace, on the outskirts of the city.
"There are a lot of unsolved questions between our countries, but our businesses are involved in active interaction. A direct opinion exchange and discussion during this conference will lead to the carrying out of projects," Ryoki Sugita, president of Japan's top financial daily Nihon Keizai, and head of the Japanese delegation, said at the forum.
The conference coincides with the 150th anniversary of Russia-Japan diplomatic relations. A 100-strong Japanese delegation arrived in St. Petersburg to discuss three main issues: educational, intergovernmental and business relations between the two countries.
At the top of the agenda stood Russia's abundance of well-qualified staff, who are not always well employed.
Annually 230,000 technical specialists graduate from Russian universities - a core of people that has "no less potential than the Indian or Chinese specialists," said Iwata Satoshi, Japanese deputy director of the commerce and information policy department.
Despite having "an abundance in human resources," Russia's IT remains weaker than its global competitors, said Victor Naumov, head of intellectual property and informational technology protection at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.
"High technologies cooperation will be advantageous for Russia. ... International projects can employ those idle resources," Naumov said Monday in a telephone interview.
On the back of a surging IT industry, Japan managed to recover after its economic depression of the '90s, and now the sector accounts for 12.7 percent of the country's economy, Hiroshi Matsui, the Japanese deputy minister for internal affairs and communications, said at the forum.
The Japanese experience may prove useful for Russia.
"Russian-Japanese cooperation has become more definite in the last two years. Japanese companies are interested in Russian IT firms and services, especially in software outsourcing," said Julia Rovinskaya, spokeswoman for Auriga, a Russian software developer.
"Already several Japanese delegations have visited Moscow and St. Petersburg software companies to establish business relations," she said.
Among the results of this successful cooperation, Rovinskaya named projects involving CRM (customer relations management system) and Internet technologies. To that Naumov adds software design, applied and innovative research and other fields of intellectual interaction.
Far from being simply a client of Russian IT firms, the Japanese are an active exporter of their hi-tech products to Russia. Last year Japanese exports to Russia rose by 50 percent.
"We run technology exchange projects with several Japanese companies. We have a license from the largest Japanese cellphone operator NTT DoCoMo to launch i-mode [mobile content] services," said Pavel Nefyodov, public relations director at MTS in Moscow. The i-mode service will be introduced by September in Moscow and St. Petersburg, he said.
Part of Japan's success in boosting its exports has come from the willingness of Japanese banks to offer Russian companies attractive loan packages that stimulate spending on Japanese software and equipment. JBIC (Japanese Bank for International Cooperation) was established for just this purpose. It also lends money to Japanese companies to support their international activity.
Long-distance operator Rostelecom became last year the first Russian company to receive a direct loan from JBIC, without needing guarantees from the Russian government and banks. The $2.7-million loan was used by the state-owned firm to buy modern telecom equipment for Rostelecom Surgut-Tyumen from Japanese hi-tech giant NEC.
The company is currently preparing to apply for a second loan agreement with JBIC, Rostelecom's press service confirmed Monday. It would not give any further details.
The managing director of JBIC, Koji Tahami, said at the forum that the loan may total as much as $9 million, to be spent on a fiber-optic network project. Tahami said that Rostelecom could be considered for a loan because of the company's financial transparency, confirmed by Standard & Poor's credit rating.
Lack of transparency among many Russian companies restricted other loan possibilities, he said.
Company loan schemes, little practiced by the domestic banks, met with vivid interest from the Russian members of the forum.
St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko expressed hope that this week's forum will contribute to Japanese participation in infrastructure development projects, with electricity supply and transport systems among them.
"To become an innovation center is our target," Matviyenko said. "St. Petersburg is the most favorable place for Japanese companies to enter the Russian market," she said.
The city already enjoys a strong IT community, with multinationals such as Intel, Motorola and LG Electronics working alongside domestic firms.
"The growth rate of the Russian IT sector exceeds that of the world's average. It gives us hope for successful, international development," Vladimir Matyukhin, head of innovation technologies federal agency, said at the forum.