I would like to welcome you all on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the 20th Anniversary of Bakutel, and I wish you all success. By showcasing advanced technologies and achieving tangible outcomes, Bakutel has proved itself as one of the major exhibitions among the other various periodical shows held in our country.
This year the event celebrates its 20th anniversary, which further increases its importance.
As a result of a consistent and persistent policy made by the Government of Azerbaijan and personally by H.E.IlhamAliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, over the last 10 years the ICT sector, like many other socio-economic areas, has traveled a very long and successful path.
Azerbaijan became the first country in the CIS region where the fixed telephone network successfully covered the whole territory and become totally digital. The country introduced 3G and 4G technologies. 75 percent of the population has become internet users, whereas 55 percent access the internet by broadband. About 98 percent of the population have access to digital air broadcasting.
In 2013, Azerbaijan launched its first satellite - Azerspace-1 - which now successfully provides high quality telecom, internet, and TV/radio broadcasting services to Europe, Africa, Central Asia and Middle East.
Our country is an active participant and initiator of such giant transnational projects as EPEG and TASIM, which was supported by the UN General Assembly’s resolutions.
Approval of the National Strategy on "Development of Information Society for 2014-2020” by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan demonstrated our country’s determination for its due place in the global information society. As a result, Azerbaijan was recently elected to the Council of the International Telecommunication Union from the Region C that covers Eastern Europe and the CIS region.
Today dynamically developing Azerbaijan pays special attention to high technologies in order to ensure its transformation to a technology-based economy. Establishment of the State Fund for Digital Development, High-Tech Park and National Nuclear Research Centre by Presidential decrees contribute to the formation of competitiveness and development of an export-oriented high technologies sector.
Development of information technologies, microelectronics, space, nano, bio and other innovative technologies, deepening partnerships among public, science, education and business sectors, expanding innovative entrepreneurship, production of competitive ICT products and services, and knowledge-intensive hi-tech products, and then expanding them into overseas markets are the main tasks for creating a knowledge-based economy.
The programme of this year’s conference and exhibition is more comprehensive than the previous ones. Inclusion in the international conference on Internet of Things and on E-governance to the programme will create great opportunities for increasing awareness of new achievements and initiatives in ICT among business people, defining priorities for future development and broadening mutually beneficial cooperation and exchanging experience.
At the same time I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the General Sponsor of the “Bakutel-2014” exhibition, “Intel” corporation, as well as to co-organizers of the event, the International Telecommunications Union and the World Economic Forum.
I believe that Bakutel-2014 will be very successful in terms of strengthening collaboration at the international and regional levels by bringing together representatives from various countries and organizations, and will produce effective outcomes.
Ali Abbasov
Minister of Communications and HighTechnologies of the Republic
of Azerbaijan