STATEMENT BY PROF. DR. ALI. M. ABBASOV
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS
AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
HEAD OF DELEGATION
THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
Distinguished Secretary-General,
Your excellencies Presidents and Prime
Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,
With your indulgence, I would like to use
the short time allocated for my speech to brief you on the
accomplishments and problems in the formation of information
society in Azerbaijan within the last two years. Reforms of
the ICT sector were effected, pursuant to the National
Strategy for ICT Development adopted in close cooperation
with the UNDP. The new Telecommunications Policy Plan was
drafted and adopted by the government, in cooperation with
the World Bank. The amount of national legislation adopted
in this field includes the Laws on Telecommunications, Post,
Electronic Signature and Documents, E-commerce and so on.
The National Program on ICT development for 2005 to 2008 was
adopted.
Major new technologies applied in the
country include broadband communication, 3G services,
digital TV, wireless internet, NGN etc. The installation of
the new postal network infrastructure, capable of providing
financial, banking and information services, was
accomplished and has played and important role in poverty
reduction and bridging the digital divide in the country.
The installation of the 10 Gbit high-speed digital network
covering the whole territory of Azerbaijan has begun, with a
view to providing access to communication services in rural
areas, a positive solution to "the last mile" problem.
Azerbaijan is located at the intersection of the East-West
and North-South communication of the Trans-Eurasian
Fiber-optic Cable, and was the first in the region to get
the European backbone connection.
The Government of Azerbaijan is paying
particular attention to the further increase of the ICT
outreach and its support in the reinforcement of democratic
values through various e-government projects. Dozens of
WEB-sites offered by various governmental offices have been
placed at the disposal of individuals and the business
community. The National Law on E-government is currently
being drafted. We are proud to say that Azerbaijan was among
the leading states formulating the principles of the ICT
role in human rights advocacy.
It should also be mentioned that as a
sponsor and active member of the Summit's PrepCom,
Azerbaijan succeeded in hosting two international
exhibitions, three ITU workshops and a conference, and a
number of international for a conducted within the framework
of the International Post Union, World Bank and the UNDP
Distinguished Summit participants,
We believe that irrelevances in
international relations and ongoing conflicts present the
major obstacles for ICT's role as the basis for
international cooperation. The occupation of 20 percent of
Azerbaijan's territory by Armenia and the displacement of
about a million Azeri nationals from occupied areas has a
negative impact on the situation in the region, and severely
hampers the implementation of a number of regional projects
including those in the field of ICT. I also believe in the
great role of ICT for the settlement of the conflict in and
around the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan together
with other hostilities throughout the world, by
disseminating unbiased information and delivering the truth
to nations.
Therefore, we view the global development
of ICT as a major tool for poverty reduction, the management
of epidemics and natural calamities, the suppression of
terrorism, the support of friendly relations between nations
and human rights advocacy.
Thank you for your attention.
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