Zelensky meets with founder of Rakuten company that owns Viber

“On June 25, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with Hiroshi Mikitani, the founder of Japan’s company Rakuten, which is best known in Ukraine as the owner of the Viber service,” reads the report.

During the meeting, the parties discussed plans to increase Rakuten presence in Ukraine, in particular, expanding the office in Odesa and opening an office in Kyiv.

Mikitani said that Ukraine is a priority market for Rakuten, and that he supports the idea of increasing the number of investment projects from Japan.

He also got interested in Zelensky’s “state in a smartphone” initiative and said he is willing to cooperate, since Viber is an integral part of almost every Ukrainian’s smartphone.

Following the meeting, President Zelensky invited Hiroshi Mikitani to join the National Investment Council.

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