VZCZCXYZ0075
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKB #1413 3321126
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281126Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4333
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 2479
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS BAKU 001413 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, EEB/CIP/BA 
DEPT PASS TO TDA FOR STEIN 
ANKARA FOR FCS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD EINV ECPS BTIO AJ
SUBJECT: BAKUTEL: ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL IT CONFERENCE OPENS IN BAKU 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION - PLEASE 
HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (U) The 13th annual international exhibition and conference 
"Telecommunications and Information Technologies," known as Bakutel, 
was held in Baku November 21-24. The exhibition featured 152 
exhibitors from 25 countries with organizers expecting 15,000 
visitors this year.  High ranking GOAJ officials like the Prime 
Minister, Minister of Information and Communication 
Technologies(ICT), Minister of Economic Development, and members of 
Parliament attended the opening ceremony, as did several visiting 
foreign dignitaries.  Although the President was traveling and 
unable to attend, his recorded speech opened the event.  The 
Ambassador also attended the opening session. 
 
¶2. (U) Azerbaijan's plans for a Regional Innovation Zone (RIZ), an 
idea the GOAJ launched at last year's Bakutel event, took center 
stage during Minister of ICT Ali Abbasov's opening speech.  Abbasov 
said the goal is "to turn Azerbaijan into a regional center of 
production and export of goods and services in information 
technologies based on the model of Azerbaijan's oil sector."  He 
said he wanted the RIZ to help quadruple Azerbaijan's ICT revenues 
to 4 billion USD by 2012 and to equal oil revenues by 2015 - 2020. 
The RIZ, and the benefits and challenges of special ICT zones, was 
also the main topic of the conference on November 22.  The 
conference was chaired by International Telecommunications Union 
(ITU) Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure and officials from 
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Jordan, Moldova, Russia, Turkey, and 
Vietnam, as well as leaders of leading private ICT companies 
participated. 
 
¶3. (U) In his opening speech, Azerbaijan Minister of ICT Abbasov 
highlighted developments in Azerbaijan's ICT sector in 2006-2007, 
citing a doubling of data flow, a 700 percent decrease in the price 
of internet connectivity, 300 percent growth in the number of 
internet subscribers, and a 400 percent increase in the nmber of 
mobile phone subscribers among other achevements.  As part of the 
GOAJ's policy to promote strong growth of the ICT sector, Abbasov 
mentioned  several laws to be adopted soon to facilitate e-signature 
and e-documents, e-commerce, obtaining information,  and 
telecommunications. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A number of American IT companies such as Apple, AvirTel, 
Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun 
Microsystems, 3COM, and others had individual booths or were 
represented indirectly by Azerbaijani ventures.  Some of the 
companies had high-level executives visiting to participate in the 
event.  Several private businessmen told the Ambassador that it was 
noteworthy that the number of Russian and Iranian companies and 
visitors to this year's event had increased dramatically, because of 
the GOAJ focus on the ICT sector and the opportunities to be found 
in Azerbaijan's growing economy. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment:  While the GOAJ is devoting resources and 
high-level attention to Minister Abbasov's vision of the RIZ, the 
concrete steps needed to make it a reality are slower to come. 
However, within the last year, several American IT companies like 
Cisco, Oracle, and 3M have opened regional representative offices in 
Baku to take advantage of the growing IT opportunities in Azerbaijan 
and the Caucasus region.  The IT companies currently operating in 
Azerbaijan are supportive of the RIZ concept, but they are not 
waiting for its implementation to go forward with expansion plans. 
 
LU