Ministry of Communications Stimulates Exports

The Ministry of Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan (MCHT) plans to stimulate the implementation of projects in Azerbaijan for the production of export-oriented products in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT), the Minister Ali Abbasov said, speaking on Wednesday at the business forum of Caspian European Club.

"At present, Azerbaijan's export structure is dominated mainly by oil. Therefore, the expansion of non-oil exports is one of the main tasks of the state. We believe that the ICT sector could be just one of these areas," said Abbasov. According to him, production of export-oriented goods and support of companies involved in this is one of the main priorities for MCHT.

"The implementation of projects in this direction can be maintained by using tax and customs privileges. Financial support from the government in the form of concessional long-term loans on special conditions will be also provided," said Abbasov.

The Minister said that MCHT is now beginning to work actively with financial companies to implement projects related to the release of export-oriented products.

 Abbasov stressed that the implementation of ICT projects in collaboration with foreign companies will be on new conditions. "The idea is that the financing of such projects by the government and foreign companies will be on an equal footing - 50 to 50. Work on a number of such projects and the creation of a special business environment has already begun. Here, the main goal is to achieve new markets," said the minister. --17D-