Minister Palo introduces Estonian IT companies to Japan
Entrepreneurship and IT Minister Urve Palo (SDE) attended an event in Tokyo on Monday aimed at bringing Japanese and Estonian companies together that work on solutions for the Internet of things (IoT).
“We have a lot to learn from Japan, and we have also a lot to give. The Japanese see Estonia as a highly-developed IT country, and they particularly value our experience developing complex cyber solutions,” Palo said.
The minister added that Japan would host the 2020 Olympics, and that Japanese interest in Estonia’s smart solutions was constantly growing. “We can help them with many issues, and they are also interested in that,” she said.
Ott Jalakas, founder of the Lingvist language leanring application, who is accompanying Palo to Japan, said that high-level visits were the best way for Estonian entrepreneurs to get contracts in Japan. “We got many new and good contacts today we can work with,” Jalakas said.
Head of Cybexer Technologies, Lauri Almann, said commenting on the visit that this kind of support by the state was invaluable. “Introducing one’s company with a minister means that every offer has more weight,” Almann said.
During the visit, Palo also met with Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshinao Nakagawa, its Deputy Director-General Yoshiaki Takeuchi, and Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko.
The business delegation accompanying Palo includes deputy secretary general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Viljar Lubi, foreign representative of Enterprise Estonia in Japan, Kosaku Yamaguchi, coordinator of foreign relations at Enterprise Estonia, Krista Mihkelsaar, as well as representatives of the Estonian embassy in Japan, and IT companies Cybernetica AS, Transferwise, RealSystems, Star Cloud, Funderbeam, Lingvist, Codeborne OÜ, Cybexer Technologies, Smart Load Solutions, and Playground.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS