Presidents inaugurate Trans-Caspian Fibre-Optic Cable Line in Baku

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on October 15.

TodayPress TV reports that the two leaders expressed satisfaction with the successful development of strategic partnership and allied relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

They noted that visits by the President of Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan and by the Kazakh head of state to Azerbaijan had made an important contribution to expanding bilateral cooperation.

The leaders also highlighted the high level of organisation of the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), held in Baku, noting that the event provided a valuable opportunity to discuss cooperation among Asian countries.

The presidents exchanged views on issues on the bilateral agenda.

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President Ilham Aliyev and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev then officially inaugurated the Trans-Caspian Fibre-Optic Cable Line online.

The heads of state were briefed on the project.

It was noted that the project, implemented by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan under the Digital Silk Way initiative, creates new opportunities for digital connectivity between Asia and Europe. A fibre-optic cable approximately 380 kilometres long has been laid along the seabed of the Caspian Sea between Sumgait and Aktau. The cable has a transmission capacity exceeding 400 terabits per second.

The commissioning of the line will enhance the strategic importance of the Middle Corridor not only in transport but also in digital connectivity. The new route will enable data from China and Central Asia to be transmitted to Europe via Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia, and onward through the Black Sea or Türkiye. This will expand international data exchange capabilities and strengthen the resilience of digital communications. At the same time, the two countries are becoming not only consumers but also providers of strategic digital infrastructure and services.

The new line will also help attract investment and create additional opportunities for developing data centres for artificial intelligence, cloud services and computing capacity. This opens up prospects for the development of new high-tech industries and services with significant added value.

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The presidents of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan pressed the button marking the official launch of the project.

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President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev then said:

“This is undoubtedly a very important project that will have an international impact. But most importantly, it represents a new type of corridor. It is not simply a transport corridor; it is an innovation suited to the modern era, the era of digitalisation, and represents an entirely new form of cooperation.”

President Ilham Aliyev said:

“Yes. It is also another step towards strengthening cooperation between Central Asia and Azerbaijan. It is well known that in November last year, Azerbaijan was admitted as a full-fledged member of the Consultative Meetings of Central Asian Heads of State, and this year I already participated in a recent meeting as a full-fledged member. This is another contribution to strengthening cooperation, because this cable will be used by countries in Central Asia, the South Caucasus and a much wider geographical area. Thus, today we have launched a global project.”

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev added: “Yes, this is the Middle Corridor in digital form.”

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Later, in the presence of the heads of state, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev and Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport Nurlan Sauranbayev exchanged the signed Agreement on Cooperation for the Development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor).

In addition, Rashad Nabiyev, Minister of Digital Development and Transport and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AZCON, and Nurlan Zhakupov, Chairman of the Management Board of Samruk-Kazyna JSC, exchanged a certificate confirming the approval of the acquisition of two dry cargo vessels by AZCON Holding and Samruk-Kazyna JSC.