BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 18. The financial sector will become the main engine of development of Azerbaijan's economy, Azerbaijani Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, COP29 president-designate Mukhtar Babayev said at the forum titled “Green finance and sustainable development” in Baku today,Trend reports.
“Without financing, we cannot achieve anything, and this year we have clearly seen how important financial resources are. Almost all issues start with financing. Everyone in the world already understands this, and a lot is expected from the financial sector,” he said.
According to him, further economic growth and the direction in which our economy will develop will largely depend on the banking sector.
“The financial sector will be the main driver of this work. We have high expectations from banks and financial institutions in terms of creative and diverse offerings. Developing these instruments in their mixed forms, introducing them to the market, making new offers for businesses, and presenting them to government institutions will create a great agenda for us," he added.
Meanwhile, Babayev earlier stated the necessity to introduce various innovative solutions to expand green finance in Azerbaijan, emphasizing that the transition to a green economy is one of the key priorities.
“This transition is necessary for the long-term sustainable development of our country's economy. One of the key factors for the development of a green economy is the availability of appropriate financing. It is also important to raise public awareness about green finance and develop a dialog between all stakeholders,” the minister noted.
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan has currently started to develop a taxonomy of green financing.
The Central Bank together with government agencies, industry associations, financial institutions, investors, and international organizations held consultations on the initial version of the taxonomy. At the next stage, it is planned to submit the final draft of the taxonomy to the government for approval.