The visit of the ITU Secretary-General, Mr. Houlin Zhao to the Republic of Azerbaijan was organized at the invitation of the Minister of Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mr. Ramin Namig oglu Guluzade. The objective of the mission was to participate in the 22nd Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition and Conference "Bakutel-2016" which was held in Baku from 29 November to 2 December 2016.
Within the framework of the visit, Mr. Zhao had a meeting with H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
At the meeting with H.E. Mr. Ramin Namig oglu Guluzade, Minister of Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Zhao invited the Republic of Azerbaijan to play more active role in the regional cooperation and encouraged the Republic Azerbaijan to run for Council elections in 2018 and invited them to participate in 2017 in WSIS Forum, Telecom, WTDC, GSR and Broadband Commission.
At the meeting with Mr. Hafiz Pashayev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Rector of ADA University, Mr. Zhao invited ADA University to become ITU Academia member. Also, Mr. Zhao had a meeting with students of ADA University, at which he delivered a speech and answered their questions.
Also, within the framework of the visit, Mr. Zhao participated in the Ministerial Networking on Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway Project (TASIM) project, which envisages the creation of major transit link from Frankfurt to Hong Kong. The transit line will combine the major centers of information exchange in Europe and Asia and will pass through the territories of Russia, Ukraine and Poland. Mr. Zhao supported this very important regional initiative and said that ITU would also like to join the project team.
Mr. Zhao did the Bakutel exhibition, where he visited, among others, national pavilions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, Iran and Turkey. Also, Mr. Zhao attended Internet of Things Conference, where he delivered an opening speech.
Also, Mr. Zhao met with startups representatives of High Tech Park Azerbaijan, invited them to participate in the work of ITU as SMEs and answered their questions.
