Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

The Deputy-Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Parvan Rusinov and the Head of Presidial Section in the Austrian Federal Chancellery Manfred Matzka signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the area of the information and communication technology and the e-Government.

In the rating for readiness of the e-Government Austria went a long way from the 13^th place in 2002 to the 1^st place in the past 4 years, said after the signing the Deputy-Minister Rusinov. The Austrian governmental portal for e-services, the e-card for identification of the Austrian citizens, the system for e-archives are some of the examples for a potential cooperation between the two countries. The experience that Austria has in the acquiring of the European funds for the realization of e-Government will be useful for our country.

The agreement will give an opportunity to the Bulgarian experts to take part in the joint working groups in the area of the system integration of the e-Government, the information security, the creation and operation of instruments for preservation and management of data.

After the ceremony the representative of the Austrian government Manfred Matzka said that the agreement is a good base for cooperation. The experts from both countries have to define quickly the specific spheres in which the two countries will exchange experience. He emphasized that the information technology give very good chances for development of the small countries.