IT can make a country
News.Az interviews Kristina Ojuland, a member of the European Parliament from Estonia’s Reform Party and Estonian foreign minister from 2002 to 2005.
You are attending the conference marking the 20th anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence. How do you see Azerbaijan's future?
I think that one very clear message for me was that Azerbaijan is very much willing and able to continue the modernization of the country, investing in the country and in the people.
I think this is something that President Aliyev mentioned several times when he talked about human capital. It’s really, something very, very important and crucial for the whole country’s development.
Speaking about modernization, one aspect of modern countries is of course the use of information technology. I know that my countrymen and women from Estonia have been working in Baku for several years in order to build the e-government system.
I can really confirm that this is something that makes a country very fast, very modern, very progressive and very useful for citizens. When Estonia started with the e-government in 2000, we were the first government in the world at that time. Now more and more governments are taking it on.
This is once again not only about government convenience, but first of all this makes everyday life much easier for ordinary citizens. Also one important point made by your president is that the use of the Internet is spreading very fast all over your country.
I think that education in this field is very important - learning in the earliest years in school about computers, the Internet. This will provide a good, new, clever and educated generation.
What can you say about other areas where Azerbaijan and Estonia could cooperate?
I would very much like to see more people-to-people contact. It may sound too simple, but I think that different kinds of cultural exchanges are something that we would need more.
On the political level, for example, we have seen a lot of high level visits from both sides, but I think we should have more cultural exchange. In Estonia we also have quite a big and important Azerbaijani community.
We would like to see and know more about Azerbaijan as one of the ex-Soviet Union countries and to learn also from you how fast things can be developed and how investments can be used with a good purpose.
My last point that I would like to stress is that on the international level Estonia has been a good supporter for Azerbaijan but I think we could do more from our part, specifically speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh situation.
I think that Estonia itself, a small country on the international level, is able to raise this issue systematically.
Our points on raising this Nagorno-Karabakh issue are very well argued, because we have ourselves been occupied, we know what it means.
We are very much in favour of the territorial integrity of any country which is suffering from occupation. A neighbouring country, Georgia, for example, has a similar problem.
I think that Estonia itself has enough political confidence and reputation at the international level to support Azerbaijan in negotiations and talks.
The European Partnership summit is approaching. Do you think that this meeting in Warsaw will bring Azerbaijan closer to Europe?
I think that this definitely will be the next step for closer relations.
But I’m very glad to see the faster development in recent years between Azerbaijan and the European Union in general, since President Barroso has been here, also Commissioner Oettinger, and the other European commissioners are coming of course.
A lot of heads of state and government are visiting your country so it all leads to closer ties at the union level, I mean the European Union and Azerbaijan.
This cooperation of course is based on the strategic interests of both sides. Azerbaijan is a very important country for the European Union. I’ve been talking about this for many, many years.
But coming here, I’m now very glad to say that it is being put into practice through concrete agreements on cooperation in the field of energy, in the field of transportation. I hope that one day we will have a bilateral visa waiver agreement and many others.
News.az
MTCHT
ICT
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
POST
ABOUT US
NEWS
INTERESTING
INTERVIEW
ANALYSIS
ONLAIN LESSONS
