Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 21
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and Baku International Sea Trade Port held the first meeting with potential investors in order to attract them to the free trade zone in the Alat township of Baku’s Garadagh district, a source on Azerbaijan’s financial market told Trend Feb. 21.
The meeting was held in Beijing in mid-February, said the source.
“The ICD has started the implementation of a memorandum signed in late 2016 with the Baku International Sea Trade Port and this meeting is the first result of this work. Representatives of the Islamic corporation and Baku port met with participants of China’s financial market, particularly, with representatives of banks and investment funds, as well as IT and trade companies,” noted the source.
The source added that the parties are interested in cooperation, thus, it is expected that the negotiations will start soon in order to determine the framework of potential cooperation with Chinese investors.
On Dec. 8, 2016, during the 1st Azerbaijan International Investment Conference, the ICD and Baku port signed a memorandum to study the potential opportunities of the port and Alat Free Trade Zone (FTZ), as well as examine the possibility of involving private sector in the process of FTZ’s creation.
The ICD is the second international organization attracted for consultations within the project of creating the free trade zone. Earlier, in September 2016, the Azerbaijani government and Dubai Port World (DP World), one of the world’s major port operators, signed an agreement on provision of consulting services for the creation of the free trade zone in Alat township.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree March 17, 2016, on measures to create a free trade zone type special economic area covering the territory of the Baku International Sea Trade Port in the Alat township of Baku’s Garadagh District.
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector was created in 1999 and has been operating in Azerbaijan since 2003.