Playing Cisco’s Russian Expansion With ETFs
Friday, June 25th, 2010ETF Database submits:
Earlier this week, communication and IT industry giant Cisco Systems (CSCO) announced a massive push into the Russian market by investing more than $1 billion in the country over the next decade. The company will also be providing $100 million in venture capital in order to establish a “dedicated physical presence” in a planned technology hub outside Moscow, being dubbed “Russia’s Silicon Valley.” The company will also look to drastically increase the number of its networking academies and to establish a second global headquarters for its Emerging Technologies Group in a leading area on the outskirts of Moscow.
This massive expansion in Russia represents a huge development for not only the company but for the Russian technology industry as a whole. The fact that Russia was able to attract such a large investment from Cisco to develop better infrastructure in the country suggests that the industry is up-and-coming and that efforts to attract foreign companies are off to a good start. These efforts could help to diversify the resource-intensive Russian economy, a high priority for the current Russian government. In fact, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev has set aside several generous perks for companies that establish operations in Russia’s new tech center, including 10-year tax holidays, fast-track residence and work permits for foreign professionals.
