23rd Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition and Conference kicks off

Bakutel 2017, the 23rd Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition and Conference began its work today in Baku. Bakutel is being held with the support of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The organiser of the exhibition is Caspian Event Organisers (CEO).

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade said that the event, which has been held traditionally for more than 20 years, is of great importance in terms of demonstrating important achievements in various fields of ICT in our country, acquaintance with new technologies and solutions, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation and exchange of experience with foreign countries and companies.

Bakutel exhibition-conference is a unique platform for government and public figures, leading business leaders, experts, as well as representatives of ICT sector of various countries to identify new partnerships, global debates and prospects for future development.

"Thanks to the new development strategy defined by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, our country is currently attracting the attention of the whole world as a country with rapid economic development, modern and sustainable infrastructure, broad communication opportunities and favorable investment environment. Today, continuous work is underway in the direction of strengthening the potential of ICT, providing citizens with better, convenient and modern innovative services, speeding up the process of organizing electronic services, creating transit and regional information highways," the Minister said.

Then speaking at the event, the CEO of Caspian Event Organisers Edward Strachan said that this year’s exhibition has brought together 192 companies from 20 countries of the world, including Azerbaijan, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China, Finland, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Turkey and others. Edward Strachan said that among the participants are leading ICT companies, mobile operators, telecom operators, Internet providers, system integrators, distributors of well-known brands. 40% of this year’s participants are regular exhibitors of Bakutel. The debutants of this year make up 30% of the total number of exhibitors.

He noted that foreign countries are represented by national pavilions at the exhibition organized with the support of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan. "This year 10 countries - Russia, the UAE, Iran, Italy, France, Canada, Slovenia, Turkey, Georgia and Croatia will present at their stands innovative projects, as well as various products and ICT services."

Then heads of relevant international organizations, ministers of foreign countries familiarized themselves with the exhibition. It should be noted that the exhibition was visited by Houlin Zhao - Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union, Nurudin Mukhitdinov - General Director of Regional Commonwealth in the field of Communications, Halil Ibrahim Akca - Secretary General of Economic Cooperation Organization, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi - Minister of Communication and Information Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nikolay Nikiforov - Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, Ahmet Arslan - Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication of the Republic of Turkey, Adil Kozhikhov - Chairman of the Telecommunications Committee of the Ministry of Information and Communication of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Anna Rabava - Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus, Mohammad Hadi Hedayati - Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Hamad Al Mansoori - General Director of the General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector (TRA), Vadim Belov - General Director of the Intersputnik.

Within the framework of the exhibition, subordinate organizations and enterprises of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies are showing in a single national pavilion products and services, projects they implemented. The projects in the field of telecommunications, post, high technologies, including nanotechnologies, e-government and electronic signature infrastructure, Data Center cloud services, successes achieved, and a number of startup projects supported by the ministry will be demonstrated.

Within four days, the exposition of the exhibition will show visitors IT solutions of a new generation, solutions of the national broadband Internet, 4-5G mobile technologies, banking technologies, services in the field of fiber and cloud technologies."

Over the four days, the exhibition will feature a rich and varied program of business events; there is a plan to hold various conferences and meetings. The 2nd meeting of the Ministers of Information and Communication Technologies of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), High Level Meeting of Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM), Seminar on "E-Government, E-Participation and Open Government Development", the 5th Regional Internet Governance Forum, 2nd seminar EU4Digital: ICT Innovation Network, seminar on "Accelerating the application of the Asia-Pacific Information Highway and the Trans-Eurasian Information Superhighway Initiative.