Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan discussed the directions of cooperation between two countries in the areas of information technology, post and telecommunications.

The Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ramin Guluzade, met in Moscow with the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, Konstantin Noskov, AZERTAC reported.

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu also took part in the meeting.

An exchange of views was held on issues of cooperation between countries in the field of information security, education in the field of information and communication technologies, development of the concept of "smart" cities, quality control of cellular communication, reduction of prices for international roaming.

The Russian side spoke about the procedure for charging for the use of the radio frequency spectrum, as well as about the reform of the universal communication service, which has been implemented in Russia since 2014 as part of the program to eliminate digital inequality.

Ramin Guluzade expressed the interest of Azerbaijan in the development of bilateral sectoral cooperation, including expanding ties with Russian companies.

The minister also noted the importance of organizing joint measures to prevent the illegal activities of the Russian operator MegaFon in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

The Russian side noted that this company is not carrying out any activity in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and in this connection, official information will be provided to the Azerbaijani ministry.

In addition, the sides discussed issues of ensuring the transmission of international traffic entering Azerbaijan into full high-quality direct channels.

At the same time, it was decided to organize regional cooperation in the field of mail and study the issue of introducing preferential delivery rates when exchanging international mail traffic between the two countries, concluding an agreement on cooperation in the field of international postal communication between Azerpoct and Mail of Russia.

At the end of the meeting, the sides discussed the possibility of the participation of Russian companies in the 24th Azerbaijan International Exhibition and Conference "Telecommunications, Innovations and High Technologies" ("Bakutel-2018"), which will be held in December 2018 in Baku.

At the meeting with the Deputy Minister of Transport of Russia Sergey Aristov, organized during the visit, discussions were held in connection with the issues of the Road Map, signed this year in Sochi, the development of the North-South transport corridor, and the current state of construction Samur bridge.

The importance of concluding draft agreements in the field of maritime transport between the two countries was highlighted at the meeting.

Azerbaijan is one of the main economic partners of Russia among the CIS countries. Interregional cooperation plays an important role in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations and the increase in trade turnover.

Russia has been included in the list of Azerbaijan’s five largest trade partners in January-June 2018 with the volume of trade turnover of $ 1.14 billion (8.54 percent of the total volume of trade turnover).

Azerbaijan invested more than $1 billion in the Russian economy, and Russia invested about $4 billion in the economy of Azerbaijan.

The products worth $349.23 million were exported from Azerbaijan to Russia from January to June 2018, which is 5.76 percent more than in the first half of the year. The volume of imports from Russia, in turn, amounted to $788.21 million, which is 0.29 percent more than in the first six months of 2017.

The trade turnover between the states amounted to $1.3 billion in January-July 2018, according to State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Russia accounts for 7.89 percent of the total foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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