Baku, Azerbaijan, June 17 /. Trend H. Veliyev /
Amount of revenues on the information and communication technologies sector in Azerbaijan reaches 1.1 billion manat, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov said in a speech at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy.
The minister said subject of innovations and technologies today is urgent for several reasons, and the fact that Azerbaijan should seek new directions of development, getting rid of commodity dependence, is undeniable.
Establishment of the regional innovation zone in the Republic is defined as a priority the development of IT-industry, while successful implementation of which revenue growth of the ICT sector will exceed 18 billion manat in 2024.
"Azerbaijan is ahead of global development, taking place in the world, in three times. Amount of income received on the ICT sector in the world was approximately $4 trillion in 2009, which makes 6-7 percent in the global GDP. The overall growth of world ICT sector is approximately seven percent. In 2009, real GDP growth in Azerbaijan was at 9.3 percent, and ICT - 13 percent. In the pre-crisis period, beginning from 2005, annual growth in the ICT sector amounted to 25-30 percent," Abbasov said.
Revenues on the ICT sector will increase with the reduction in revenue growth on oil sector. According to estimates of the consulting company Booz-Allen-Hamilton, if today incomes on the oil sector in Azerbaijan make 9.6 billion manat, after 2012, when revenues on the sector will reach 10.7 billion manat, the rate will gradually decline and will amount to five billion manat by 2024, while the revenues on the ICT sector will exceed 18 billion manat.