Stressing that Iran belongs to all Iranians, the ICT Minister added: “Any kind of racial or political delineation and marking out, is actually undermining the Ideals and beliefs of Imam Khomeini and the Revolution.”
He included: “The Province of Sistan and Baluchestan had a great percentage of votes in the election of Dr. Rouhani as President, and in turn, the government also is fully determined in its promise to the people, in spite of all the pressures, problems, and intentional and non- intentional disagreeables.”
He said that: “This province is enjoying a great strategic and commercial position in spite of the safety and security issues of being neighbor to countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the fact is that through the efforts and determination of the people and the local officials the security situation is gradually improving, and the from the aspect of development projects this province is on top of our programs and agenda.”
The Sistan and Baluchestan Province has a great number of villages and rural population, which considering the considerable role of villagers in flourishing and prosperity of the country, more attention should be paid to this sector and it is our intent to secure a special budget for development of communication and internet services in rural areas.”
Mentioning the increasing transfer capacity of inter-network lines from the onset of the government of ‘wisdom and hope’, he informed that: “The Internet bandwidth which was 700 mbps at the beginning of our term of office has now reached 2400 mbps. The main strategy of the Communication Ministry is to help the economic prosperity of the country through research and improvement of domestic production with the help of the people and the knowledge-based companies.”
Vaezi described the role of internet in all aspects of everyday life, universities, commerce and education, including that: “The Internet is a tool for improving the quality of people’s life and work, and we have plans for the future.”
He continued that: “The Sistan and Baluchestan Province has a unique position because of its borders and natural conditions which fortunately have been witnessing improvements during the term of office of the government of ‘wisdom and hope’, such as a 10.000 Billion Rial overall budget foreseen for the province, plus the 1.540 Billion Rial budget we have spent on ICT infrastructures totally separate from the communication and mobile network budgets.”
The Minister elaborated on the great role of villagers in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, adding that: “This province hosts the greatest concentration of villages in the country and it is our duty to be highly considerate of their conditions.”
Vaezi expressed that the rural areas have a great role in safe-keeping our system and our government, adding: “The ICT Ministry intends to bring broadband internet to 2000 villages in the province.”
He stated that the Post company was at the beginning very costly and non-profiting, which came into profit at the onset of the government of wisdom and hope, and said: “Our colleagues at the Post company are the intermediary between us and our people, and it is up to us to bring post services to a whole new level of quality through developing smart and IT-based services.”
Vaezi emphasized on the importance of Post Bank in rural areas, saying: “The Post Bank should implement its mission in practice, and progress its services in the province, through growth of Micro-Banking policy and offering banking services to underprivileged areas.”
Vaezi concluded by underscoring that: “To cherish the participation of villagers and the elite in the IT sector, we intend to offer interest-free loans to individuals active in this field.”
The inaugurated project will provide a connection between Iran and Pakistan through an Optic-Fiber landline.
By the successful conclusion of this project, the Fiber-Optic route will connect the Iranian city of Zahedan to Mirjaveh in Pakistan, facilitating the transit route of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and China; in other words the ‘IT Silk Road’ will connect China to Turkey and from there, to Europe.
To implement this major project, 220 Billion Rials have been spent so far on the Iranian side alone.