Azernews.Az

An international conference, "Regional innovation zone: problems and solutions," was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baku with the sponsorship of Azerbaijan's leading cellular operator Azercell as part of the BakuTel 2007 telecommunications and information technologies exhibition.
Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov, director of the President's Office information resources and technologies department Elmir Valizada and other speakers stressed that ICT was an advanced and attractive field of the Azerbaijani economy that clearly indicated the country's growth dynamics.
Halim Ates, general manager of Azercell Telecom JV, the most influential company in the country's private ICT sector, spoke of the successes achieved by the cellular provider and future plans. He said application of cutting-edge information technologies has assumed a wide scale in Azerbaijan with the government's support.
"Azercell is the biggest investor in this field and has already channeled $600 million into the development of communications in Azerbaijan," he said.
Ates called on businessmen not to confine to making investments and to facilitate ICT development by collaborating with the government.
"The private sector [entrepreneurs] should not consider the work done after setting up a business, but give support to the development of society," the company boss said.
He emphasized that the government, which is conducting drastic reforms in the national legislation, attaches great importance to the development of technologies in the country. "As a representative of the private sector, Azercell Telecom is ready to provide all kinds of assistance in this area."