Today Skolkovo, the international tech hub under completion on the outskirts of Moscow, and Panasonic, a world leader in electronics and system solutions, agreed “strategic areas” for their business cooperation in 2017. The agreement was signed in the framework of the Russia-Japan Business Dialogue during the visit of Russian president Vladimir Putin in Japan.
The parties intend to “make an extensive use of their core competencies and resources” to strengthen bilateral cooperation and in favor of the economic development of each country. Focus will be made on innovation in high-tech and export-oriented industries in the fields of biomedicine, robotics, information and data storage, urban technologies and agriculture.
Thus Panasonic experts will participate in the design of a new international medical center based in Skolkovo Innovation Center, and involve Skolkovo startups in the development of advanced technologies for indoor farming and urban management. Panasonic will also support Skolkovo’s initiatives to promote innovation and technological entrepreneurship across Russia, with special attention brought to the commercial and industrial development of the Russian Far East.
The Skolkovo Foundation also plans to organize a business mission to Japan for its startups including a visit to Panasonic Center Tokyo and to the corporation’s manufacturing plants.
In a separate agreement, Panasonic is planning to develop its partnership with Raidix, a St. Petersburg based IT developer and resident company of Skolkovo, following a memorandum of understanding signed in June of this year. The partners will develop and implement a joint marketing program in 2016–2017 in a bid to sell globally their “unique Russian-Japanese hardware and software solution” for big data processing and storage. Sales may start in Russia in early 2017.
On the picture (L-R): Russian Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications N. Nikiforov, Deputy General Director of RAIDIX А. Katashov, Vice-President of Panasonic Russia Y. Takaki, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan S. Takaichi. Photo credit: Panasonic Russia via Skolkovo Foundation.
A two-year relationship
“In just a few years Skolkovo has become a major center of innovations and technological entrepreneurship in Russia with ambitious development programs, covering both infrastructure and intellectual resources. And we are glad to expand cooperation with the Skolkovo Foundation and its residents for multiple areas, including IT, smart home and smart cities, as well as agricultural business,” Panasonic Russia President Junichi Suzuki said.
“This agreement symbolizes evolution of Skolkovo Foundation and Panasonic relationships, as well as strengthening of cooperation between Russia and Japan in the field of innovations in general,” stated Viktor Vekselberg, President of the Skolkovo Foundation.
Skolkovo began developing relations with Asian countries several years ago. Vekselberg visited Japan in 2012, seeking partnership with big Japanese corporations.
Today’s agreement is expanding a relationship which started in 2014, when Panasonic and Skolkovo inked their first partnership agreement. Following this agreement, which was signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Panasonic opened an R&D center in Skolkovo in 2015 with a focus on energy efficiency solutions.
That same year, Skolkovo and Panasonic launched joint initiatives to develop next-gen battery technologies.
