Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Google will consider opening its regional office in Azerbaijan, Vice President Vinton Cerf said at the international Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku on Thursday.

According to Cerf, the company is seeking to be involved in all active markets and its management will be informed of the Azerbaijani market potential.

Cerf told reporters that the IGF is very important as the Internet is of great significance for many countries.

He stressed that it is particularly important that the forum is being held in Azerbaijan given that the country is rapidly developing.

"I want the world to understand that the Internet is not confined to what we typically call the developed world. It is rapidly growing in other places, and here especially," he said.

According to Cerf, Internet provides the opportunity for anyone in the world to contribute to its development and is the most powerful source of knowledge sharing.

He added that not information itself, but the chance of sharing it is of great value.

As part of his first visit to Azerbaijan, Cerf held a meeting with Communication and IT Minister Ali Abbasov, with discussions covering issues of science and IT specialists' training with a purpose to further boost the IT sector.

"We absolutely agreed that the IT sector plays and will play one of the main roles in the country's GDP growth," Cerf said.

The IGF forum, which is being held in the Azerbaijani capital November 6-9, is attended by around 1,000 delegates from over 100 countries, including representatives of government agencies, the private sector, civil society and the Internet community, international organizations and other participants.

The main purpose of the forum is to bring together various stakeholders and to discuss public policy issues on Internet regulation. The discussions cover such issues as providing public information and prospects for development of new products and services.