A bilateral online dialogue between Ukrainian and Japanese business representatives, initiated by the IT Ukraine Association and Kobe City Government one month ago, has caused a wide resonance in the Japanese media and showed great interest of our partners in the Ukrainian IT market. For this time, leading Japanese channels and media such as TV Segments, Kansai TV, SUN-TV, NHK, MBS, Kobe Keizai News, Yomiuri Shimbun, Kobe Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Kyodo News have largely covered the event and broadcast its results.
The webinar serves to be one of the many examples of the ongoing cooperation between IT Ukraine and Kobe City Government, which started in 2021 with the support and auspices of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Exporters and Investors Council under the MFA of Ukraine.
The event was focused on the situation in Ukraine during the russian invasion. Speaking on behalf of the IT community, Konstantin Vasyuk, Executive Director of IT Ukraine Association, shared the information on the current state of the IT industry of Ukraine, outlined the main trends appeared in the wartime and appealed to the participants to support Ukrainian business.
The Japan - Kobe webinar was once again a prosperous event in our books. Last year we organized a joint webinar to further the cooperation between Japan and Ukraine, this year we were planning to have a sequel. Still, with the start of the war, it was crucial not to undermine the importance of sharing first-hand information about the IT industry in the conditions of war. We wanted to emphasize on the fact that we are working and encourage our fellow Japanese businesses to contract with Ukrainian companies as a sign of support. Thank you to our colleagues from the Office City of Kobe and to many more events in the victorious Ukraine near-future,
- Konstantin Vasyuk mentioned.
The event was highlighted with the rousing speeches delivered by Mr. Kizo Hisamoto, Kobe Mayor, representatives of the embassies of the two countries, as well as Ukrainian and Japanese companies: Andrii Starzhynskyi (a-Gnostics), Andrii Korniichuk (Computools), Anna Panchenko (Yalantis), Dmitry Golosenko CHI Software), Hisashi Takano (Lecre), Yoshimasa Mine (Sharemedical Ltd.).
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone at the IT Ukraine Association for all their support in carrying out this seminar. I was very impressed to learn that Ukrainian IT companies continue providing high-quality services to their clients even in these difficult circumstances. It is my sincere hope that this seminar will promote cooperation between companies from Ukraine and Kobe, and that this cooperation will in turn support the Ukrainian economy and have a positive effect on the economy of our city. I pray from the bottom of my heart that peace returns to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Masuda Tadasu, Director General, Office of the Mayor, Kobe City Government, stressed out after the event.
The participants presented their companies and projects and outlined the prospects of bilateral partnership. In particular, CHI Software has confirmed its intention to open an office in Kobe City. The parties agreed to continue the active dialogue and a practice of business webinars of the two countries.
We are grateful to the event’s participants and our partners who shared their impressions of the event.
Yoshimasa Mine, CEO, ShareMedical Inc.: After attending this webinar I realized once again how advanced Ukraine's IT technology is. Eventually, the war will end. At that time, I think we must keep the budding industry in Ukraine. However, if excellent human resources remain, we can expect a quick recovery with IT technology. ShareMedical Inc. will continue to invest aggressively in Ukraine's IT technology.
Andrii Starzhynskyi, Co-founder and CEO, a-Gnostics: We were very pleased to take part in Ukraine-Japan: Prospects for Ukrainian IT Industry webinar. The conference was extremely well organized from both Ukrainian and Japanese sides, especially what struck us were the preparations for the online meeting. a-Gnostics started working with a Japanese company in projects related to machine learning and artificial intelligence, and we are confident we will have productive cooperation in the near future. We have very good prospects in exchanging data on industrial equipment and using neural networks for their analysis.
Hisashi Takano, Chief Operating Officer, Lecre Inc.: We are a Japanese engineering and technology company, specializing in the development and sale of an automated service for the analysis and recognition of construction photos Kuraemon, building domain digitalization. Currently, it's the #1 construction system in Japan. We have overcome many challenges during our system development. And CHI Software was always our loyal software development partner in Ukraine for many years. I believe, now, when Ukraine is at war, we can't go wrong with our Ukrainian partners. It’s one of the most developed countries in terms of technology, and also a country of great people. I think this webinar was a really good opportunity for Japan to learn the truth of the matter, and support true partners.
Dmitry Golosenko, Business Development Manager, CHI Software: I believe this webinar was an excellent opportunity for both Ukrainian IT businesses and Japanese companies to start effective and mutually beneficial cooperation. We express our gratitude to the IT Association of Ukraine and the administration of the city of Kobe for the invitation to this webinar. CHI Software will be happy to contribute technologically to the economy of Hyogo Prefecture and Japan as a whole.
Andrii Korniichuk, Business Development Representative, Computools: The Ukrainian IT industry continues running. Computools activated a special part of the Project Security Policy and took all measures to make sure the team is safe and the company meets commitments. Employees' mental health, volunteering and donation are priorities as well.
