Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.28
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
Azerbaijan's transition from an economy, heavily dependent on natural resources, to industrial development makes sense not only in terms of sustainable development of the country, but will also help to mitigate the impact of prices unsteadiness for natural resources, Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the Caucasus, Moldova and Belarus Bruno Balvanera said Nov.27.
He made the remarks in Baku on the third panel "Investment opportunities in Azerbaijan and strengthening cooperation for comprehensive and sustainable development of the industry", held within the framework of the International Industrial Conference "Industrialization in the XXI century: the main trends, modern approach and experience in industrial policy."
"Azerbaijan moves from the economy, heavily dependent on natural resources, to industrial development," he said. "This makes sense not only in terms of sustainable development, but will also help to mitigate the unsteadiness of prices on natural resources, which we have witnessed in the last few weeks."
He said that over the last few days the price for oil fell by 2 percent and is already close to $70, which is quite a serious decline compared to $110-$105 in previous years.
The Regional Director of the EBRD said that partnership strategy with Azerbaijan, which was adopted in 2013, complies with the concept of development "Azerbaijan 2020: A Look into the Future," the main element of which is the diversification of economy.
Balvanera said that the EBRD is a close partner of Azerbaijan and continues to fund projects, including the second phase of the development of Shah Deniz gas condensate field, which is an important project not only for Azerbaijan, but also a reliable source of energy security of Europe.
The two-day conference was attended by representatives of the government of Azerbaijan, CIS, EU, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNIDO, GUAM, the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, UN, a number of local and foreign companies and others.
From 1991 to date, the EBRD has allocated about 2 billion euros to finance more than 150 projects in Azerbaijan. About half of the investments were made in the private sector.
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