TASIM, TANAP of same importance - Minister
By Nigar Orujova
The Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway will be at least as important as the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Project, Azerbaijan’s Communications and High Technologies Minister Ali Abbasov believes.
“When TASIM will be [fully] realized, it will be as important as TANAP,” the minister said in an interview with Hurriyet Daily News, during his visit to Istanbul.
Today Azerbaijan and Turkey are trying to form a relationship apart from oil and natural gas, which is communications, said Abbasov, adding that the two states are trying to build a business environment in which businessmen will be exempt from taxes and customs procedures.
Abbasov said Baku and Ankara have a joint project that will open access for Azerbaijani and Turkish businessmen to the markets of the two countries and expand export and trade opportunities of the two countries’ companies.
The minister also emphasized the growing importance of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the region.
The groundbreaking ceremony has been recently held in Turkey’s Kars province for the TANAP gas pipeline that envisages the transportation of gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field from the Georgian-Turkish borders to Turkey’s western borders.
TANAP construction is due to be completed in 2018 and TAP in 2020 with first gas deliveries to Europe planned in the same year. The project’s cost is estimated at $10-$11 billion.
The TASIM project with an initial cost of $100 million envisions the creation of a major transit link from Frankfurt to Hong Kong. The project aims to reduce poverty and accelerate economic growth. It can also play a leading role in the region's development.
TASIM is designed to connect 20 countries, and its realization will help address the information gap between Western Europe and the Pacific Basin.
The line will connect major centers of data exchange in Europe and Asia together, stretching through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Germany.
A reserve North transit line will pass through Russia, Ukraine and Poland.
The issue of laying the Caspian segment of cable line is an integral part of the TASIM project, and negotiations on this issue are underway with Kazakhstan.
TASIM will stretch over 11,000 kilometers and its initial network bandwidth will reach 2 Tbit/s.
The project will be implemented in two stages and the construction is planned for 2016.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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