Tech firms threaten to quit Belarus after crackdown, Internet outages

Several big tech firms operating in Belarus have threatened moving their businesses out of the country following Internet outages and intimidation of protestors by the government, according to a news report. According to the report, the Belarus Hi-Tech Park launched in 2006, a major hub for some 750 tech companies employing 58 000 people and yielding US$2 billion in export earnings since 2019 is under threat. The park which has attracted huge investments by many foreign companies from the USA, Europe, and Asia due to great tax incentives is now seeing many companies wanting to leave. A recent survey shows that many employees of these companies also want to leave Belarus because they have been directly caught up in brutalities occasioning the ongoing protests, thereby making them feel unsafe to live and work in the country.