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Microsoft is setting up a data center dedicated to cloud computing services in Azerbaijan, the Eurasian country positioned between both the Western Asian and Eastern European markets.

According to the Turkish Weekly, it is working with the Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry on the project.

Microsoft International President and VP Jean-Phillipe Courtois met with the government on January 26 at Davos, where the World Economic Forum was being held.

It reportedly discussed issues such as energy supply and costs – topics that could be a key decider for Microsoft’s decision to select a site in the country.

Azerbaijan is known for its production of oil and natural gas and has large contracts with major oil providers. It also had one of the world’s fastest growing economies between 1990 and 1995 thanks to the growth in its industrial and energy sectors.

GDP in the country, however, is predicted to be only 3.7% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

On its website, the IT Ministry said: “Courtois praised the current level of cooperation with Azerbaijan.”

The Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov spoke at Davos, in Switzerland, on the growing importance of IT to the country.

And the Turkish Weekly hinted that Microsoft’s data center could be used to provide the government with more services with the parties “discussing the project to supply the licensed software to Azerbaijani state agencies”.

Microsoft’s cloud computing services include a number of applications from Sharepoint to Office live and customer relationship management CRM.

In other locations Microsoft’s data centers have been built using containerized solutions. One of its most recent announcements for a modular data center was in Taiwan, last June, which followed its Dublin and Chicago modular builds.

The Taiwan data center also has a strong focus on cloud services.