Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have launched a new digital communication line along the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The project will strengthen international communications, according to infohub.kz.
The presidents ceremonially launched a fiber-optic communication line with a total length of 380 kilometers, connecting Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan along the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The fiber-optic line will become part of a new communication route linking Kazakhstan, other Central Asian countries, and China with Europe. The line can be connected to submarine systems in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
The project is of strategic importance for the development of Kazakhstan's digital economy. In particular, the Trans-Caspian fiber-optic line will provide additional international connectivity for our country and create conditions for attracting global technology companies, developing cloud services, and AI infrastructure.
At the launch ceremony of the large-scale project, President Qasym-Jomart Toqaev stated that the fiber-optic line will give a powerful synergistic effect to the joint efforts of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to develop the Middle Corridor.
"We have launched a very important project that will have international resonance. The most important thing is that this is a new type of corridor. It is not a transport corridor, but something new that fits into the modern era, the era of digitalization. This is a fundamentally new format of cooperation, a kind of digital embodiment of the Middle Corridor," emphasized the President of Kazakhstan.
In turn, Ilham Aliyev called the launch of the fiber-optic line another step in strengthening interaction between Central Asia and Azerbaijan.
"Last year, Azerbaijan was accepted as a full member of the consultative meetings of the heads of state of Central Asia, and this year I participated as a full member of this organization. This project has become another contribution to deepening cooperation, as the fiber-optic line will be used by both Central Asian countries and the countries of the South Caucasus and the broader geographical environment. Today we have launched a global project," said the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In the presence of the heads of state, a ceremony was held to exchange the signed Agreement on cooperation for the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The document forms a unified legal basis for the sustainable functioning and comprehensive development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (Middle Corridor) amid the transformation of global trade and logistics chains. The agreement will ensure synchronous expansion of infrastructure capacities, eliminate bottlenecks in the railway, road, and port sections of the route, and jointly develop the dredging fleet and maritime shipping in the Caspian Sea. A key block of the document is dedicated to large-scale digitalization of transportation, involving the integration of information systems, the use of the "single window" principle, end-to-end cargo tracking, and the conclusion of a separate agreement on mutual recognition of electronic digital signatures.
In addition, the agreement significantly simplifies administrative, border, and customs procedures through the introduction of preliminary information, minimization of inspections, and mutual recognition of the status of authorized economic operators.
Recall that President of Kazakhstan Qasym-Jomart Toqaev spoke at the VII Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia in Baku (CICA). Qasym-Jomart Toqaev supported the reconciliation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It also became known what the leaders of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan agreed on.