Shinzō Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, has become an e-resident of Estonia, so far the highest ranking official in the world to do so.

Abe's e-residency card was presented to him by Taavi Kotka, the Deputy Secretary General at Estonia's Ministry of Economic Affairs, currently on a visit to Japan.

Kotka told ERR that e-residency was Estonia's gift to Abe, which he accepted.

According to Kotka, Japan is also planning to introduce ID-cards and Estonian specialists have participated in its development process, hence the idea to present their prime minister with a digital Estonian ID-card. “We came to this idea because Japan is moving in IT development in a similar direction as Estonia, so we thought that it would be nice to give him something for comparison,” Kotka said.

Estonia started the first supranational e-residency scheme in the world last December. The e-residents can obtain a digital ID that will let them use Estonia’s digital services online around the world. It will also give the opportunity to create a company and open a bank account in Estonia. The e-residency card does not equal with the Estonian citizenship, nor does it carry a person’s photo.