Deputy Minister says Azerbaijan developing digital economy
By Rasana Gasimova
Azerbaijan’s Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov has voiced his country’s commitment to the development of digital economy.
Addressing the international conference titled Digital economy: Modern Challenges and Real Opportunities held in Baku on February 13-14, Safarov said that it was important for Azerbaijan's economy “to reduce dependence on the oil sector, increase competitiveness in the non-oil sector, develop human capital, and thus, develop digital economy”
He noted that Azerbaijan has done a lot of work in this direction, stressing that e-government has been formed, through which various e-services are provided, new platforms are created and, as a whole, the traditional economy is being transformed into a digital economy.
Safarov noted that since the launch of the licensing portal and issuing permits in Azerbaijan on March 1, 2019, more than 1,500 licenses have been issued through the platform. He said that in 2019, the portal was improved, and work on the integration of information systems in the portal continued and more than 800 electronic licenses were granted to entrepreneurs.
"More than 1,500 licenses have been issued via the portal for issuance of licenses and permits since its launch in Azerbaijan on March 1, 2019. Last year, the portal was improved, work on the integration of information systems in the portal was continued and more than 800 e-licenses were granted to entrepreneurs," he said.
Safarov noted that the ministry provides 94 services in the field of economic activities, 68 of them being provided online; 63 e-services are interactive, and the remaining five are informational. Over 96,000 requests were received at the e-government portal in 2019.
Addressing the conference, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Transport Communications and High Technologies Elmir Valizade ICT revenues in Azerbaijan in 2019 reached $2.2 billion which amounts to 1.8 percent of GDP and 2.9 percent of non-oil GDP.
He emphasized that 97.1 percent of the country’s territory is covered by the network, noting that presently, 80 percent of Azerbaijan’s population are internet users, and 75 percent - broadband users.
Valizade added that Azerbaijan ranked 43rd out of 141 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum in 2019.
Note that the aim of the International Conference on Digital Economy: Modern Challenges and Real Opportunities is to discuss recent contributions to the understanding of the digital economy and its consequences for modern societies.
The Conference brought together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars and also specialists from business and government to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Digital Economy.
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