Iran, Turkey agree to set up joint IT working group

Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi and his Turkish counterpart Ahmad Aslan sat down for talks on the sidelines of the Second Meeting of Information Technology ministers of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states opened in Baku on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Jahromi said that there are numerous areas of cooperation between the two countries, expressing Iran's willingness to set up a joint working group with Turkey.

Stressing the significance of signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between Tehran and Ankara in the field of cyber security, the Iranian minister said that the cooperation in the area is in the interest of both countries.

While the world is undergoing metamorphosis, most of the countries’ economic growth is on the decline, but in the sphere of digital industry, economy is growing. 

Iran’s cooperation with Turkey is still underway in the traditional domains including post, international communications and transit as well as information technology, he said, noting, “We should also promote collaboration in the new areas including digital economy.”

Turkey is Iran’s most significant partner in the field of transit and Iran has close cooperation with Turkish companies such as Turkcell and Turk Telekom.

Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Ahmet Aslan, for his part, said that development of Iran-Turkey cooperation in the arena of communications and electronic trade is in the interest of the two countries and region.

As to the establishment of the working group, he further noted that it can also identify hurdles in the way of mutual cooperation.

Turkey is currently engaged in training and research works on cyber security in the international level, he said, inviting Iran for collaboration in the courses.

Turkey serves a bridge to Europe and Asia, Arslan said, noting that Turkey needs cooperation with Iran to forge communications with South Asia, China and India.

During his stay in Baku, Jahromi met with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and his Russian and Turkish counterparts Nikolay Nikiforov and Ahmet Arslan, respectively on the sidelines of the two-day event.

Iranian communications minister arrived in Baku on Tuesday morning to attend the second IT ministers of ECO member states.

ECO which is an inter-governmental organization was established in 1985 and has ten member-states including Iran, Azerbaijan Republic, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

source : irna