In the article we will talk about the Hi-Tech Park. Few people know what it is, so we will tell you in detail about this economic zone, which is located in the Republic of Belarus.
What is it about?
High Tech Park in Belarus is a special economic zone with a special tax and legal system that contributes to the correct and successful development of IT business in the country and is the prototype of Silicon Valley in the USA. The Hi-Tech Park operates on the principle of extraterritoriality. All registered companies can enjoy the claimed benefits, regardless of where their office is located. The key figure is Yanchevsky Vsevolod Vyacheslavovich, director of the Hi-Tech Park. The zone was founded in 2005 by Valery Tsepkalo and Mikhail Myasnikovich.
Detailed review
The original goal of the project was to create in Belarus all the necessary conditions for the proper development of export-oriented programming. They also discussed the development of export industries, which would take place onbased on high technology. An important goal of creating the project was to concentrate the scientific, production, investment, financial and human potential of the whole country to significantly increase the level of the national economy and the country's competitiveness.
Employee benefits
The High-Tech Park in Belarus is the only organization of its kind in the country that has the right to provide tax benefits on an ongoing basis. All residents of the Park are exempt from corporate taxes. It also includes value added tax and income tax. The flat personal income tax rate for all employees and residents of the Hi-Tech Park is 9%. Also, it does not include total annual income. Residents have a special right to pay mandatory insurance premiums in a smaller amount.
Regulation of activity
In order for the High-Tech Park in Minsk to provide all the conditions that would facilitate the inflow of foreign investment, the opening of foreign representative offices, production facilities, development centers, in the summer of 2017, specialists developed a draft Decree that would regulate the activities of this economic zone. The idea of creating a revolutionary Decree belongs to Vsevolod Yanchevsky, who, as we already know, is the director of the HTP administration. Since 2013, this person has been responsible for the implementation of the main provisions of state policy in the field of high technologies and informatization. Possible prospects for the development of the Decree were tested and announced by Vsevolod himself and Viktor Prokopenya in the spring of 2017 at a meeting with the Head of State. A whole group of the best professionals in the country was involved in the creation of this project in close cooperation with government agencies. The setter of the task and goal was the administration of the Hi-Tech Park, which tried to reflect the general opinion of the entire industry.
Decree
The provision of this Decree allows HTP residents to cooperate with investment funds, foreign and product companies that monetize IT products through the use of paid subscriptions and advertising. By personal decision of Vsevolod, the Decree places special emphasis on the regulation and development of cryptocurrency and blockchain at the state level. Comprehensive legal regulation, backed up by the state authorities, will allow the company's employees to provide services of crypto exchangers, crypto exchanges, attract additional funding, use tokens and cryptocurrencies not only in local but also in international circulation.
In the future, this will allow the creation of legal and profitable crypto-mining centers in Belarus, which will greatly contribute to lowering the cost of local electricity and putting nuclear power plants into operation. At the same time, it should be noted that the National Bank officially agreed to the use of blockchain technology and even created an entire information network that would help solve a wide range of banking and non-banking tasks. The practical use of this network in the banking system in Belarus is manifested in the fact that it became possible to transmit information about a bank guarantee. According to the Decree, the institutions of English law will be introduced, which will create the basic legal foundations for the introduction of unmanned vehicle technologies into the country. It will also allow to remove possible restrictions that are currently imposed on the residents of the Park of High Technologies in the field of capital movement. Moreover, this will stimulate a breakthrough in IT education and create the necessary prerequisites for its development, and, importantly, will increase the increase in tax revenues to the country's budget.
Field of activity
In the modern world, IT specialists are in great demand. However, a professional must master many skills. Thus, the high competitiveness of the Hi-Tech Park is ensured by the fact that real specialists work here. They take part in projects of varying complexity, ranging from simple analysis, selection of solutions, consulting, to the development of huge complex systems. Belarusian IT-specialists are trained and certified in world-class training centers: Microsoft, SAP, Lotus, Sun, Novell. Another important advantage of programmers should be noted - they not only get good knowledge in a specialized field, but also have a good knowledge base in mathematics, physics and other exact sciences.
Hi-Tech Park Education Center
Much attention is paid to the development of education in the country. On theto date, residents help approximately 80 laboratories at technical universities in the country. The HTP Education Center was created to train specialists who have a technical education. Extensive work has been launched on the education of children and adolescents. In 2016, a business incubator of the Hi-Tech Park was launched in Minsk, thanks to which more than 50 events have already been held, in which more than 8,000 people have taken part. Young start-up companies are provided with office space at reduced rental prices, they are also provided with support from HTP residents who help in finding potential partners and investors.
Infrastructure
To begin with, we note that there is also a Hi-Tech Park in Grodno. The infrastructure of this subdivision includes four buildings where the companies of the main HTP residents are located. There is an educational center, administration and a coworking center. The unit occupies a small area, but there is a large influx of applicants.
The territory of the main Hi-Tech Park is located near the main transport routes in Minsk. Despite the fact that the extraterritorial principle of registration of companies was chosen, about 50 pieces of land were allocated for them. According to the development plan, the HTP should become a high-tech city where residents not only work, but also relax in good conditions. The scientific zone includes industrial buildings and a large research complex. Living sectorIt consists of multi-storey buildings, there are also a kindergarten and an elementary school. The business and educational zones are occupied by offices, business centers, hotels, student hostels. In the public sports area you can find swimming pools, gyms, fitness centers, saunas, restaurants, cafes and he alth centers. Today, the High-Tech Park in Belarus is attracting investments to create its branches in other cities of the country.
History of Creation
As we already know, the Supervisory Board of the Hi-Tech Park consists of V. Tsepkalo and M. Myasnikovich. It was they who in 2005 put forward the idea of creating a Belarusian analogue of Silicon Valley. In 2012, a Belarusian-Indian training center was opened, the main activity of which was the training of specialists in the field of IT technology. In the winter of 2013, the HTP Educational Center began to operate. In autumn 2014, the Supervisory Board issued Decree No. 4, which was signed by Alexander Lukashenko. There were changes in it regarding the fact that the residents of the company could expand their activities in order to work with high-tech areas. In the spring of 2015, a business incubator was opened, the purpose of which was to help young startups. In 2016, with the support of the Ministry of Education, an educational project was launched to teach programming skills to younger students.
Summing up the article, I would like to say that the HTP Supervisory Boardworks at height. Indeed, the current indicators of the Hi-Tech Park in the field of IT are leading in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. At the moment, 187 companies are registered here and more than 30,000 people are involved. In just 2016, more than 3,000 jobs were created. In the same year, over $169 million in investment was raised.
