Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Babayeva / The Minister of Communications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan, Ali Abbasov, said on 26 June during the first Azerbaijani-Israeli IT forum in Baku that over the next two years, the Government of Azerbaijan will allocate $250-300 mln for the development of the IT field.
According to the minister, several IT indicators cannot keep pace with indicators worldwide. The number of computers per 100 people equals 5-6 units, the number of stationary telephones - 15 and mobile telephones - 42-45. Only 10% of the population uses the internet.
"All these should not negatively affect the interest of foreign companies who wish to work in Azerbaijan, there are conditions for their activities in this country but the main fact is that there needs to be development of the field," the Minister said.
Touching upon cooperation with Israeli companies, the minister highlighted the demand in the Azerbaijani market for Wi-Max services, full communication services, distance training, telemedicine and the creation of NGN (Next Generation Network).
In addition, there is a great demand for the development of projects on the expansion of an E-Government in Azerbaijan.