Greetings from Minister for Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Dear Exhibition and Conference Participants,

On my own behalf and on behalf of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan as well as on behalf of all our colleagues who are engaged in the fields of telecommunications and ICT, I would like to sincerely congratulate all of you at the opening ceremony of the international exhibition and conference, and wish each one of you good health and success in your business within the event.

Development of the ICT sector likewise all of the other areas of socio-economic life has a profound importance for the society. Benefiting from the support of the government and visionary guidance of H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan this field is dynamically developing with an average annual revenue growth rate of 25-30%.

The nationwide development of the modern telecommunications infrastructure, ICT and internet penetration rates, expansion of businesses as well as strengthening export potential, adoption and implementation of relevant legislative acts, programs and projects are all significant contributions into the ICT development.

Azerbaijan is the first country among the CIS countries, which has provided an absolute access to the digitalized fixed-line telephone networks in all over the settlements and the country has ensured the transition into a 7-digit numbering system.

Mobile communication sector is also rapidly developing; there are 110 cell-phone users per 100 inhabitants; while 60 percent of the population is connected to internet, 30 percent of which are broadband users.

These statistics show that ICT development rates are approximately 1.5 - 2 times higher than the global average ones. As a result of the constant increase in the total capacity of international internet channels and the building of transnational internet ports, Azerbaijan has turned into a successful exporter of internet services in the region.

Citizens of Azerbaijan are provided with multichannel TV- and radio-broadcasting and it is envisaged that country’s full transition into the digital broadcasting will be completed by the end of 2012.

Successful implementation of e-government, e-education, e-health and other related projects have created favorable conditions for the development of the information society in the country.

Azerbaijan’s achievements in the field of ICT and establishment of the effective cooperation with the world’s leading IT companies have generated the needs for implementation of projects to be accessed by the regional markets.

Launch of Azerbaijan’s first telecommunication satellite by the end of 2012, Trans-Eurasian Super Information Highway and Europe-Central Asia Information Highway projects initiated by Azerbaijan, have already kicked off and will go ahead phase by phase.

I am sure that these projects will critically impact to the welfare and prosperous development of the society along with improving Azerbaijan’s position in the international ICT arena.

I believe that by bringing together numerous local and international companies and organizations, BakuTel-2011 17th International Exhibition and Conference on Telecommunications and Information Technologies will be beneficial in terms of development of international and regionallevel cooperation and will give its successful outcomes.

I once again congratulate you at the opening ceremony of the exhibition and conference, and wish every success to its participants and visitors. Sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Ali M. Abbasov,
Minister for Communications and
Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan

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