Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend S.Babayeva / The expansion of high technology in the Azerbaijani economy and the decrease of their dependence on natural resources are important tasks, Ali Abbasov, the Azerbaijani Minister for Communications and Technology said at the opening of the first international conference; First International Conference on Material and Information Sciences in High Technologies' in Baku on 26 September.
"One of major step towards the expansion is the implementation of regional innovation zones," the minister stressed.
Within the framework of innovation zones there are plans to establish scientific and research enterprises granted with special privileges. The enterprises will research the efficient production of innovative products and services.
"I hope the conference will be important not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the entire region," the minister said.
The conference will conclude on 29 September. The conference is organized by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and Information Technology jointly with the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan with assistance from the Japanese Physics Society.
Key speakers at the conference are scientists from Japan, Azerbaijan, Germany, Saudi Arabia delivering reports in English.