Digital Silk Way project is initiated by NEQSOL Holding and implemented by AzerTelecom, a leading wholesale telecommunications operator connecting Azerbaijan to the global internet network.
The project envisages the implementation of big infrastructure projects, laying of terrestrial and subsea fiber optic backbone cables to form a digital corridor between the Europe and Asia.
The program consists of several components:
- The establishment of sustainable local and foreign backbone infrastructure
- Construction of a regional Data Center in Azerbaijan and Georgia
- The formation of a digital telecommunication corridor that will meet the need of countries located along the entire route on internet connection and content.
This mega digital telecommunication corridor passing the territories of various countries, i.e. Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan will be the most effective and shortest route with the high bandwidth and least latency in data transmission and boost the regional cooperation and development. It will help meet the growing demand of these regions for internet traffic and improve communication services in the region. The program will also enable those countries to take the leading positions in international rankings. Moreover, it will broaden the economic stability and prosperity in Eurasia.
The "Digital Silk Way" project is regularly supported in the documents of international organizations.
In the Istanbul Declaration adopted at the 8th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States held in 2021, support for the Trans-Caspian Fiber Optic Cable Line, planned to be laid along the seabed of the Caspian Sea, was emphasized. The Samarkand Declaration signed in 2022 once again expressed the member states' support for the project.
As part of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the "Shusha Declaration," adopted during the The 27th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held on October 10, 2023, in the city of Shusha, also expressed support for the "Digital Silk Way" project.
The protocol of the 19th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Kazakhstan, held on April 7, 2023, in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, noted the work carried out within the framework of the "Digital Silk Way" project.
The protocol of the 20th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Kazakhstan, held on March 5, 2024, in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, also noted the work carried out within the framework of the "Digital Silk Way" project.
In the "Karabakh Declaration," signed as a conclusion to the Informal Summit of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States held in Shusha on July 6, 2024, the member states' support for the "Digital Silk Way" project was emphasized.
The "Bishkek Declaration," adopted at the 11th Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States, held on November 6, 2024, in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, highlighted that the "Digital Silk Way" project would make significant contributions to cooperation in the ICT field and the development of infrastructure.