Azerbaijani-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) held another ICT conference in Baku on 3 September 2014.

The event was held under the theme of “Business environment created for communications sector and high technologies of Azerbaijan”, was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies (MCHT), Ministry of Taxes, Central Bank and private sector.

Minister of Communications and High Technologies Ali Abbasov addressed the event. Speaking about the importance of the event, the minister said that the aim of the conference was to uphold activities carried out by the Government of Azerbaijan in the sphere of high technologies and to expand mutual business relations between government officials and representatives of private sector.

Touching upon the reforms implemented in Azerbaijan with the aim of developing high technologies sphere and the achievements that had been attained in the ICT sector of the country, Ali Abbasov pointed out that the republic had moved up 28 points in the UN e-government development index and placed on the 68th position among all countries of the world.

Speaking about the projects that had been implemented in the ICT sphere in Azerbaijan, the minister noted that “Azerbaijan – 2020: Look into the Future” Development Concept provides for a twofold increase of the country’s economic potential at the expense of non-oil sector. “A number of measures are now being implemented to this end, including the creation of favourable competitive environment, development of labour resources and the attraction of investments,” Ali Abbasov said.

During the conference, which was held in an interactive format, the prospects for the development of high technologies sphere were discussed and presentations of the projects that had been implemented in this sphere in Azerbaijan were held.

The conference continued its work in sessions. During the sessions topics like  “The role of communications, high technologies and e-government in the country’s development”, “Human resources potential of Azerbaijan in high technologies”, “Promotion of high technology products in Azerbaijan”, “Opportunities and dilemmas between groups of high technology and finance in Azerbaijan” were discussed.

At the end of the conference, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Microsoft Azerbaijan LLC and High Technologies Park LLC. Under the document, the parties will cooperate in the area of developing ICTs and expanding their application in the country.