Russian IT-business well-developed in Azerbaijan

/AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Russian IT-business has been widely developed in Azerbaijan, Russian Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Media Rashid Ismayilov believes.

He said the development is evident in the Russian IT-business’s participation in the exhibition Bakutel-2014. The largest telecommunication and IT exhibition in the Caspian and Caucasus region is underway in Baku Expo Center on December 2-5.

"It is not my first participation in this exhibition and I can say that the ICT sector in Azerbaijan is developing quite rapidly. I walked around the stands and it is encouraging that many Russian companies, represented at the exhibition, have offices in Azerbaijan," Ismayilov noted.

Today, the Russian IT-business in Azerbaijan is involved in different projects in the field of transport, energy and oil industry.

"There are companies that are engaged in visualization, software companies, companies engaged in cloud technologies. Currently, Russian companies are already cooperating with Azercosmos, Railway Control of Azerbaijan. That is, the whole spectrum, from software solutions to telecommunications equipment are represented in Azerbaijan. This indicates how business is developing fast here, and we as a the Ministry are interested in seeing more Russian companies operating for export," he stressed.

Russia calls for laying a new route of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM), Ismayilov added.

Ismayilov noted that Russia fully supports the draft of TASIM project and want it to be laid along the route of Ashgabat-Makhachkala. In this way, the network will cover the South of Russia, having a broader scope, which will be important for Azerbaijan as well.

Today, TASIM involves Russia via RosTelecom, Kazakhstan via KazTransCom, Turkey via TurkTelecom, and China via ChinaTelecom. Azerbaijan is represented in the project by the Center for International Relations and Accounting of the Communications and High Technologies Ministry.

Earlier, Head of operational marketing department of RosTelecom, Nargiza Kamilova said, the part of the highway TASIM, which will cover Russia, is fully operational and RosTelecom is ready to provide all necessary support to this project.

"We have a strong cable infrastructure that paved the route from Frankfurt to China and further on to Japan. I can say that we, like China, are ready to launch this project. There are other participants in the project -- Turkey and Kazakhstan," Kamilova said.

TASIM project is of regional significance and aimed to lay down transnational fiber backbone covering Eurasian countries from Western Europe to East Asia.

The project aims to reduce poverty and accelerate economic growth. It may also play a leading role in the development of the region. TASIM is intended to connect a total of 20 countries. Its implementation will eliminate the "information gap" between Western Europe and the Pacific Rim.