Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr A. Gasymova / The member countries of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM ( Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) are still weak investors and it is too early to speak on joint implementation of large projects requiring considerable funds.
"Given that GUAM countries are weak investors there is still a need to attract foreign investors. It is too early to speak on implementation of such projects as establishment of peacekeeping forces of GUAM and Euro-Asian oil and gas transport corridor," the Director of the ' Sofia' Ukrainian Centre of Social Researches, Andrei Yermolayev said.
The second summit of GUAM was held in Baku on 18-19 June under the slogan of ' GUAM: Uniting Continents'. The GUAM countries discussed establishment of GUAM common peacekeeping forces and a transport corridor.
On 19 June during a phone call, Yermolayev said that the meeting of the Presidents of the GUAM countries during the 2nd summit of the organization in Baku was a geopolitical intrigue. According to the politician the role of the European Union was increasing. European countries are concerned with high energy dependence from Russia and therefore are interested in new routes and ways of access to Caspian and Central Asia energy resources.
"That is one of the reasons for the rapid increase in interest of GUAM. Earlier GUAM was regarded as a dependent organization and intended for the North-Atlantic sector. However, now the European Union is interested in GUAM, primarily as an economic partner. So, GUAM became a project very attractive in terms of investing," the politician said. "It is very important to find a common fundament for the development of GUAM and the Black Sea Economic Union, where the interests of such large countries as Russia and Turkey are represented.
GUAM was established as an alternative for CIS by post-Soviet countries in 1999 during the summit of the Presidents of the European Union in Strasburg. In 1999 Uzbekistan joined the organization and left four years later.