Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4
By Emin Aliyev - Trend:
The first meeting of the Azerbaijani-Iraqi intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, technological, education and agricultural cooperation held on Dec. 4 discussed the use of the Azerbaijani Azerspace-1 satellite's capacities by Iraq in the future.
Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and Information Technologies, Ali Abbasov said during the meeting that Azerbaijan has come a long way in its development over the past 10 years.
The launch of Azerbaijan's first telecommunications satellite was one of the outcomes of this development and an indicator of the country's economic potential, according to the minister.
"We are interested in Iraq joining the use of the satellite," Abbasov said.
Azerspace-1 may be interesting for Iraq because the satellite is designed to cover the Middle East and Central Asia, the minister added.
In turn, the Iraqi commission's co-chair and Minister of State for Provincial Affairs, Torhan al-Mufti confirmed Iraq's interest in the use of the satellite.
"Iraq is interested in the opportunities of Azerspace-1, particularly in the field of communications, radio and television broadcasting," al-Mufti said.
Azerbaijan's first telecommunications satellite, Azerspace/Africasat-1a was launched in February 2013. The satellite is designed to provide the services of digital TV, data transmission, creation of VSAT multi-service networks and ensuring government communications.
The Azerspace/Africasat-1a satellite's service area includes the countries of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa. The Azerspace-1 satellite is located at the orbital position of 46 degrees east longitude.
