Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.16
By Huseyn Veliyev - Trend:
Determination of the Caspian Sea status will accelerate the construction process of the underwater segment of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM), the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan told Trend.
The ministry said that TASIM enters the zone of interests of the Caspian littoral states, and the unresolved legal status of the Caspian Sea is one of the factors that create problems in the development of the project.
"Of course, we are closely watching the process, and our strategy will be built in accordance with the final decision of this matter," the ministry said.
The ministry will examine the details of the agreements reached within the framework of the 4th Caspian summit held in Astrakhan in the light of the TASIM underwater segment construction.
The Caspian countries agreed on the principles of interaction and signed a political declaration, which precedes the signing of the convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea within the framework of the Astrakhan summit. The signing of the document, which is intended to settle the existing differences, is expected at the regular summit, scheduled to be held in 2016 in Kazakhstan.
The laying of the Caspian segment of the cable highway is an integral part of the TASIM project, and negotiations on it are underway in Kazakhstan.
Problems of border crossing still exist at the moment, and the full decision on this matter is still pending.
TASIM project has regional significance, and its purpose is the laying of transnational fiber highway covering the Eurasian countries from Western Europe to East Asia.
At present, the TASIM project includes such countries as Russia (Rostelecom), Kazakhstan (KazTransCom), Turkey (TurkTelecom), China (China Telecom), and Azerbaijan (represented by the Center for International Relations and Calculations of the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies).
The project aims at reducing poverty and accelerating the economic growth. It can also play a leading role in the region's development.
The TASIM project is designed to connect 20 countries, and its realization will help to address the information gap between Western Europe and the Pacific Basin.