Sept. 22
President Aliyev opens ferry terminal of New Baku International Trade Sea Port Complex
A ceremony was held to open a ferry terminal as part of the first stage of the construction of the New Baku International Trade Sea Port Complex.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening ceremony.
The president then addressed the event and launched the terminal.
Azerbaijan proposes to create joint intergov't commission with UK
The establishment of an Azerbaijan-Great Britain intergovernmental commission promotes the expansion of bilateral relations, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy and Industry Shahin Mustafayev said.
He made the remarks at the meeting with British Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Ian Livingston.
Mustafayev said that the two countries have great potential to expand the cooperation in the fields of ICT, tourism, production, processing and sale of agricultural products.
Sept. 23
Azerbaijan, Russia create intergov't group for investment, trade
Azerbaijan will double food supplies to Russia and expand their range by 1.5 times in 2014-2015, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu told Russian business newspaper.
"A joint intergovernmental group for agricultural trade and investment in an agro-industrial complex will be created until late September," he said. "Moreover, the Azerbaijani side plans to increase gas supplies to Russia, transit of oil through the port of Novorossiysk and use the national currency in joint settlements."
Bulbuloglu said that as opposed to many countries, "using the situation in connection with the retaliatory measures of the Russian Federation", Azerbaijan does not intend to raise the prices on agricultural products supplied to the Russian Federation.
Azerbaijan invests over $120 million in renewable energy - State agency
Over 100 million AZN has been invested in the development of alternative and renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan from public funds so far, the head of the State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy of Azerbaijan Akim Badalov said within the framework of the regular business forum organized by Caspian European Club (CEIBC).
He added that the country has created favorable conditions for the development of this new direction for Azerbaijan: companies operating in this sector were exempted from customs duties and taxes.
Third issue of debt securities placement for Southern Gas Corridor begins
The State Committee for Securities registered the issue prospectus of interest-bearing book-entry registered unsecured bonds of the Southern Gas Corridor CJSC in the amount of $101.12 million, the Baku Stock Exchange (BSE) stated.
Some 1.011.200 bonds with a nominal value of $100 each have been issued within the framework of the emission. PSG-Broker LLC is the underwriter of the placement.
The turnover period is 10 calendar years, with the yield of 6 month Libor +1 percent. Payment of interest will be carried out every 6 months.
Sept. 24
Azerbaijan prepares tax service optimal control model
A new twinning project "Azerbaijani Taxes Ministry's support in the field of human resource development" corresponds to the strategic plan of the ministry, the head of the EU office in Azerbaijan Malena Mard said during a presentation of the project in Baku.
"This project will play a fundamental role in the cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan," she said. The project will be implemented within two years.
The project consists of three components, the head of the twinning project, Adviser to the Minister of Taxes Asaf Asadov said. The first component envisages the creation of a long-term strategy and a plan for human resource development. It is planned to update the regulatory framework of the Ministry of Taxes in the field of human resource development as part of the second component, and the third one - a modification of the training system in this area.
Azerbaijan's investment in Turkish economy to grow 4 times
The total investment of Azerbaijan in the Turkish economy will amount to $20 billion with the construction of the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), the vice-president of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) on economic issues Suleyman Gasimov said during the regional conference "Economic growth and industrialization: the possibility of Azerbaijan and Turkey's experience," in Baku.
The conference was organized by the Azerbaijan-Turkey Business Association (ATIB) under the partnership of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan in connection with the announcement of 2014 year as the year of industry in the country.
The volume of investments, along with TANAP, also includes investments of SOCAR to the development of the petrochemical industry in Turkey, according to Gasimov.
Iran, Azerbaijan interested in development of cooperation between IT-companies
Iran and Azerbaijan are interested in the development of cooperation between the private companies working in the field of information technologies, Iranian Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Mujtaba Hashemi, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan, said.
Hashemi said that the purpose of his visit to Azerbaijan is to create an appropriate contractual framework. He added that the sides will seek to reach an agreement during the discussions with the private companies. The sides plan to sign an agreement on cooperation between the two countries in the field of postal services and IT following the discussions.
During the visit, Hashemi is accompanied by the representatives of 15 companies engaged in the field of communications and IT.
Sept. 26
ADB leaves Azerbaijan's economic growth forecast unchanged
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) retained its GDP growth forecast on Azerbaijan in 2014 and 2015 without any changes, the updated report of Asian Development Outlook 2014 said.
As in the previous report [released in April], the bank expects that the rate of GDP growth will amount to 5 percent in 2014, and 4.8 percent in 2015.
"Although the growth rate of the economy of Azerbaijan in the first half of 2014 declined by less than a half of the expected forecast, the projected growth in the areas of oil production, construction, services and agriculture in the second half of this year will back up the previous forecast of growth," the report said.
ADB also kept the inflation forecast in Azerbaijan for 2014 and 2015 unchanged - at the level of 4 and 3.5 percent, respectively.
New strategy of Azerbaijan's partnership with UN to be approved before end of year
A framework document on partnership between Azerbaijan and the United Nations (UNAPF), covering the period of 2016-2020 will be adopted before the end of this year, UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan Antonius Broek said.
"Consultations were held today with the participation of representatives of government agencies, international organizations, private sector and civil society at the conference on approve of the priority areas of the regular partnership strategy within the framework of the UNAPF. During the next three months, the document will be finalized taking into account the proposals made at the conference," Brooke said.
The conference was organized by the Ministry of Economy and Industry of Azerbaijan to discuss the priorities of the Government's cooperation with the UN.