Russia’s second fastest-growing regional innovation economy in 2011 according to business monitor RBC Daily, is stepping up efforts to assert itself as one of the country’s most business-friendly ecosystems.
Less than three years after the regional capital city of Kazan opened IT Park, reportedly eastern Europe’s biggest techno-park, plans are now being laid for a second park, this one to be launched in Tatarstan’s second largest city, Naberezhnye Chelny, on August 30, 2012.
Chelny’s IT park will reportedly focus on developing software and manufacturing hardware components. It is expected to create 1,500 new local jobs.
Regional authorities say the new techno-park will offer future residents a broad spectrum of infrastructure services, from banks and post offices to conference halls and negotiation lounges – all in one building. For seed and start-up stage companies and selected individual users a business incubator is envisioned, with market experts, lawyers and economists at their service.
Rigorous screening for residency in the Chelny park will continue through April 8 on the premises of Kazan’s IT Park. The goal is to create “a mecca for young people who move with the times and want a top-notch environment.”
In a separate move, the construction of a $315 million IT village is expected to start outside Kazan later this spring to provide housing and business opportunities for up to 50,000 IT professionals and their families.
