Gov’t drafts strategic plan to boost ICT sector

A strategic plan for the development of the information and communication technologies sector is being drafted by a commission operating under the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs Organizations of Azerbaijan.

Astrategic plan for the development of the information and communication technologies sector is being drafted by a commission operating under the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs Organizations of Azerbaijan.

Commission Chairman Ismail Alakbarov told Trend that the strategic plan will take into account the short-term and long-term goals for the development high-tech industry in Azerbaijan, and consider issues related to development of the country’s export potential and legal regulation. The National Confederation of Entrepreneurs Organizations has a great potential which can be used for the development purposes, he believes.

The commission includes private enterprises from economic sector which have better understanding about the problematic areas in this field, said the chairman. Most likely, the development of the strategic plan will take months, but it will reflect interests of both government and business sector.

Alakbarov further added that state support in this sphere can be tax relief or its complete remission in specific activity areas, for example ecommerce. The growth of the country’s export potential in the ICT field is of great importance, but the state support is needed to the private sector.

Azerbaijan’s companies participated in international tenders in this regard, Alakbarov said by reminding that the budget of such tenders amounts to millions of dollars which is beyond that one company can afford. The way-out from this situation is the establishment of a consortium. Nevertheless, there is another constraining factor- requirement for the bank guarantee. Thus, company needs to put $10,000 in its bank account in order to be able to attend the tender.

In Turkey, the government directly acts as a guarantor and does everything in order to ensure the company’s participation in the tender, and when the company wins the tender it contributes to the state’s monetary reserves respectively, highlighted Alakbarov.

He went on to say that attractive markets for the IT-companies of Azerbaijan are the markets of countries of the Central Asia and Africa.

Nowadays, many international financial institutions allocate huge funds for the development of health, education, agriculture and other fields in the African countries. Furthermore, the advantage of local ITcompanies is that their proposed solutions are competitive from a commercial point of view in comparison with European equivalents.

What’s more, Azerbaijan also intends to reduce its dependence on high-tech imports. Iltimas Mammadov, the Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies announced that mass production of high-tech hardware and software development will be established in order to achieve this goal.

Mammadov stressed that the security issue is an essential component in realization of import substitution of high-tech products.

The cooperation with the scientific community of the country may play an important role in expanding production and software development, he added.