Jan. 16
Ilham Aliyev meets with EBRD president in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti as part of his visit to the Swiss Confederation to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Touching upon the economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, President Aliyev underlined that special attention is paid to the development of the private sector in the country.
It was stressed that there are good prospects for cooperation in implementing projects in Azerbaijan in agriculture, transportation, infrastructure and other areas, adding these projects paved the way for the bilateral cooperation.
Azerbaijan, Iran launch plant construction in Baku
A groundbreaking ceremony of Caspian Pharmed, an Azerbaijan-Iran joint pharmaceutical plant, was held in the Pirallahi Industrial Park in Baku.
Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev and Iran’s Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei attended the ceremony.
In the joint plant, 49 percent of the shares belong to Iran’s Tamin Pharmaceutical Investment Company, while 25 percent go to the Azerbaijan Investment Company and 26 percent to Azersun Holding.
Over $30 million has been invested in the establishment of the joint plant.
Microsoft, IITKM ink deal on goods database in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms & Communications (IITKM) and Microsoft Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of cooperation.
The memorandum envisages cooperation in creating a unified database of the goods produced in Azerbaijan, holding trainings in ICT, assessment and analysis.
The parties will also conduct joint research in the application of ICT in the national economy, develop proposals on promotion of e-commerce in Azerbaijan.
Ilham Aliyev meets McKinsey global managing partner in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with global managing partner of McKinsey, Dominic Barton in Davos.
During the conversation, they noted that Baku office of McKinsey has recently been launched, adding that the company has contributed to nearly 20 projects including the preparation of “Strategic road maps for the national economy and main economic sectors”.
The sides exchanged views over cooperation prospects.
Jan. 17
Ilham Aliyev meets Suez Environnement CEO in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Chief Executive Officer of Suez Environnement Jean-Louis Chaussade in Davos, Switzerland.
They hailed the Azerbaijan-France relations as excellent.
The sides also exchanged views on prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and Suez Environnement.
Ilham Aliyev meets President of Europe Selling & Market Operations at Procter & Gamble in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with President of Europe Selling & Market Operations at Procter & Gamble Gary A. Coombe in Davos.
The sides hailed good relations between Procter & Gamble and Azerbaijan. Gary A. Coombe said the company is considering a number of projects in terms of expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan ranks second in terms of IDI among developing countries
Azerbaijan ranked second among 78 countries with developing economies according to the Inclusive Development Index (IDI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF), reads the Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2017 posted on the WEF website.
Azerbaijan’s IDI was 4.73 points in 2017, according to the WEF.
Lithuania topped this year’s list of developing countries with the same score of 4.73 points, but the country was ahead of Azerbaijan in terms of economic growth and development over the past five years. Hungary took the third place in the list with 4.57 points.
Azerbaijan is ahead of many CIS countries in the list. For example, Russia took the 13th place, Kazakhstan – the 17th place, Armenia – the 50th place, Tajikistan – the 53rd place and Kyrgyzstan – the 57th place, according to the IDI. Georgia took the 31st place, while Ukraine ranked 47th in the IDI list.
Azerbaijan keen to expand non-oil exports to Czech Republic
Azerbaijan wants to expand the export of non-oil products to the Czech Republic, said Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev.
“An analysis has been held in order to determine the list of goods that Azerbaijan can export to the Czech market,” Mustafayev said addressing the Azerbaijani-Czech business forum in Baku.
He named the agriculture products, including nuts, tea, fruits and vegetables, cotton, wine and others as the non-oil products that can be exported to the Czech Republic.
Speaking about the activity of Czech entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan, Mustafayev noted that as of today the total of volume of their investments in the country amounts to $1.3 billion.
Additional 1.8 billion euros were given by Czech banks for the implementation of various projects in Azerbaijan, added Mustafayev.
Moreover, the minister said the Czech companies participate as contractors in various Azerbaijani projects, with a total cost of $16 billion.
Baku hosted the Azerbaijani-Czech business forum, which was attended by almost 170 entrepreneurs from the two countries.
IDB interested in Azerbaijan’s regional projects
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is interested to take part in regional projects implemented by Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, said Hisham Marouf, director of the IDB Regional Office in Almaty, during his meeting with Javid Gurbanov, chairman of Azerbaijan Railways.
Marouf noted that the development of relations with Azerbaijan is one of the priorities for the IDB.
He said that in the mid-term prospect, one of Azerbaijan’s main strategic tasks is to become a regional logistics center.
Gurbanov also spoke about the measures being taken for the reconstruction of the globally important International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Ilham Aliyev met with Chief Executive Officer of LafargeHolcim
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Chief Executive Officer of LafargeHolcim Eric Olsen.
Chief Executive Officer of LafargeHolcim Eric Olsen informed the head of state about the works done and opportunities of the Group in the field of protection of the environment, as well as waste incineration.
Eric Olsen described Azerbaijan as an attractive country in terms of cooperation. The CEO said they were ready to establish relations with Azerbaijan.
President Aliyev met with managing director of VPS Healthcare
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with founder and managing director of VPS Healthcare of the United Arab Emirates Shamsheer Vayalil.
During the meeting, high level of cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates was emphasized. Good prospects of relations between Azerbaijan and VPS Healthcare in the field of health were stressed.
They discussed issues of cooperation in this field.
Ilham Aliyev meets with BP CEO
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Chief Executive Officer of BP Robert Dudley in Davos, Switzerland.
Successful development of cooperation between BP and SOCAR, as well as BP`s being the biggest investor in Azerbaijan was emphasized. Ongoing works in Azeri-Chırag-Gunashli fields were discussed.
During the conversation, they exchanged views on the successful implementation and prospects of Southern Gas Corridor, TAP, TANAP projects.
Jan. 18
Ilham Aliyev meets Saudi energy minister in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih in Davos, Switzerland.
The minister hailed Saudi Arabia-Azerbaijan cooperation as excellent and expressed his hope that bilateral cooperation between the two countries will be further expanded.
The sides exchanged views on a number of issues, including Saudi Arabia’s making investments in Azerbaijan, cooperation between Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources and Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy, and implementation of joint projects between Saudi Aramco and SOCAR both in the region and other countries.
Ilham Aliyev meets Palantir Technologies CEO in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with chief executive officer and co-founder of Palantir Technologies, Alex Karp, in Davos, Switzerland.
Karp underlined his company’s interest in cooperating with Azerbaijan.
Ilham Aliyev meets with CISCO executive chairman in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Executive Chairman of CISCO John Chambers in Davos as part of his working visit to Switzerland.
Chambers described Azerbaijan as a reliable partner for foreign companies, hailing the advantages and benefits of cooperation with the country.
President Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has entered a new stage of development, adding Azerbaijan-CISCO cooperation must be adapted to this stage.
The sides also exchanged views on the possibilities of cooperation in the fields of public services, industry, agriculture, tourism and diversification of export.
Azerbaijan, IDB sign grant agreement
The Azerbaijani government and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) have signed a grant agreement in Baku to provide technical assistance to prepare the legal framework for Islamic finance.
The agreement envisages the analysis of banking legislation and study of the possibilities of introduction of the Islamic banking principles in Azerbaijan.
Ilham Aliyev meets Statoil CEO
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with Chief Executive Officer of Statoil Eldar Saetre in Davos, Switzerland.
Ilham Aliyev meets LUKOIL president in Davos
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with President of Russia’s LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov in Davos, Switzerland.
Ilham Aliyev meets European Commission VP Maros Sefcovic
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic in Davos.
Jan. 19
President Ilham Aliyev meets corporate vice president of Worldwide Public Sector at Microsoft
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with corporate vice president of Worldwide Public Sector at Microsoft Toni Townes-Whitley in Davos.
During the meeting, economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan`s new stage of development were spoken. During the conversation, they exchanged views over the boosting cooperation between Azerbaijan and Microsoft.
Vietnam oil & gas group interested in Azerbaijan’s assistance
Vietnam wants Azerbaijan to continue support for the Vietnamese state oil and gas company in developing the country’s oil and gas fields, said Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natig Aliyev in Hanoi, the National English language daily Viet Nam News reported.
Tran Dai Quang said that he is ready to create favorable conditions for the import of Azerbaijani goods into Vietnam.
He also noted that Vietnam is ready to export products of agro-industrial fishery, electronics and computers to Azerbaijan in order to increase the volume of trade turnover.
Azerbaijan, UN set economic co-op priorities
The main strategic priority of the Azerbaijan-UN economic cooperation in 2016-2020 is the achievement of sustainable and inclusive economic development, backed by a growing diversification, said Ghulam Isaczai, UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Azerbaijan.
He was addressing a meeting on the UN-Azerbaijan Partnership Framework (UNAPF) for 2016-2020, held in Baku.
The main goals to be reached by 2020 are to ensure a more diversified economy and sustainable growth, provide work for youth, women, disabled and other vulnerable segments of the population, he said.