On October 15, a meeting took place between the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
During the talks, satisfaction was expressed with the successful development of Azerbaijani-Kazakh relations of strategic partnership and alliance.
It was noted that the visit of the President of Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan, as well as the visit of the head of state of Kazakhstan to our country, made a substantial contribution to expanding bilateral cooperation.
It was emphasized that the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), held in Baku, was organized at a high level, and this event provided a good opportunity to discuss cooperation issues between the countries of the Asian region.
The heads of state of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan exchanged views on bilateral agenda issues.
Then Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev officially opened the Trans-Caspian Fiber Optic Cable Line in an online format.
The heads of state were informed about the project.
It was noted that the project, implemented by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan within the framework of the "Digital Silk Road" initiative, opens new opportunities for digital interaction between Asia and Europe. A cable with a length of about 380 km has been laid along the bottom of the Caspian Sea between Sumgayit and Aktau. Its capacity exceeds 400 terabits per second. The commissioning of the line will enhance the strategic importance of the Middle Corridor not only as a transport route but also as a digital communication channel. The new route will allow data transmission from China and Central Asia to Europe through Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia, and further through the Black Sea or Turkey. This will expand international data exchange capabilities and increase the resilience of digital communications. Moreover, our countries are becoming not only consumers but also suppliers of strategic digital infrastructure and services.
The new line creates additional conditions for attracting investment, developing data centers for artificial intelligence, cloud services, and computing power. This opens prospects for the development of new high-tech industries and services with high added value.
The Presidents of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan pressed a button symbolizing the official launch of the project.
Then President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said:
- A very important project that will undoubtedly have international resonance. But the most important thing is that this is a corridor of a new type. It is truly not a transport corridor, but something new that fits into the modern era, the era of digitalization. This is a completely new type of cooperation.
President Ilham Aliyev said:
- Yes. And among other things, this is another step in strengthening interaction between Central Asia and Azerbaijan. As everyone well knows, in November last year, Azerbaijan was admitted as a full member of the Consultative Meetings, and this year I recently participated as a full member of this community. And this is another contribution to strengthening interaction, because this cable will be used by both Central Asian countries and the countries of the South Caucasus and a broader geography. So today we have given a start to a global project.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: Yes, this is the Middle Corridor in digital form.
Then, with the participation of the heads of state, the Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan, Rashad Nabiyev, and the Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Sauranbayev, exchanged the signed Agreement on cooperation for the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor).
In addition, Rashad Nabiyev, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AZCON Holding, and the Chairman of the Management Board of the Joint Stock Company (JSC) Samruk-Kazyna, Nurlan Zhakupov, exchanged a certificate recognizing the acquisition of two dry cargo ships between AZCON Holding and JSC Samruk-Kazyna.
