Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and High Technologies Ali Abbasov has met a delegation led by Minister of Transport and Communications of Lithuania Rimantas Sinkevicius.

Saying the sphere of communication and information technologies occupies a special place in enhancing friendly relations between the two countries, Minister Ali Abbasov noted that there are good prospects for the further expansion of these relations. Highlighting purposeful reforms carried out in the country, the Minister said Azerbaijan ranked 49th in the Global Information Technology Report 2014 in terms of the Network Readiness Index (NRI) compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF), for the number of broadband Internet subscribers the country was in the leading position in the CIS. The ICT Minister also spoke about space industry, broadband internet, high technologies that are priority areas in the country, including the future action plan on nuclear and development of nanotechnologies.

Expressing satisfaction with the cooperation between the two countries in political, economic and cultural fields, Lithuanian Minister Rimantas Sinkevicius said bilateral relations between the two countries are developing successfully, and noted that there are ample opportunities for the cooperation in all areas, including in the field of information and communication technologies. Speaking about the cooperation with Azerbaijan in areas of mutual interest, Rimantas Sinkevicius said he supported joint activities in projects, in particular cybersecurity, money transfers in the field of mail, e-signature, as well as stressed the importance of joint participation in Horizon 2020- the EU’s Research and Innovation Programme.

Saying Lithuanian side is interested in the services of the first satellite of Azerbaijan “Azerspace-1”, Sinkevicius proposed to set up a working group of experts to review proposals on cooperation in these areas.

Minister Ali Abbasov, in turn, said that there is a mutual interest in developing cooperation at a high level, stressed the intensification of efforts to move the relations on to the next stage of development.