MILAN, Italy, May 6. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) nearing the end point for the preparation work on the new partnership strategy for Azerbaijan, which will go from 2025 to 2029, Yevgeniy Zhukov, Director General of the Central and West Asia Department at ADB, said, answering Trend’s question during a briefing held as part of the 58th Annual Meeting in Milan.
“We are discussing it with the government, and plan to focus on two pillars. One is developing a green and diversified economy, and the second is fostering low-carbon connectivity and inclusive development,” he said.
Zhukov noted that in recent years, the ADB program in Azerbaijan has been heavily focused on the private sector.
“Last year, we approved two projects in the public sector, both connected to the railway sector development. One is operating in the north-south part of the railways. The second project is the digitalization of the whole network in Azerbaijan,” noted Zhukov.
He went on to add that in the private sector, ADB has a number of large projects in renewable energy, especially working with Masdar and other companies.
“More specifically, in 2022, we approved a big project in Alat, which is now fully operational. Last year, on the sidelines of COP29, we committed to more projects in solar. And this year, our private sector department is working on similarly large projects for the wind power generation,” he said.