SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 2. More than 560 million people live in the ECO member countries, and the total area of their territories is 8.1 million square kilometers, the President of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs' (Employers') Organizations of Azerbaijan Mammad Musayev said during a speech at the Business Forum of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held in Shusha, Trend's Karabakh bureau reports.
"The nominal gross domestic product of the OECD member countries amounted to about $2.4 trillion in 2023, which is 2.3 percent of the world GDP. The total exports of the member countries amounted to more than $650 billion, accounting for 0.2 percent of world exports," he emphasized.
Musayev added that large-scale economic reforms have been implemented in Azerbaijan in recent years, and special attention has been paid to the development of entrepreneurship:
"The weight of the private sector in our economy has increased, non-oil exports have entered new markets, and important steps have been made in the field of digital transformation. Specific cooperation mechanisms are needed to share this experience with the ECO region countries and strengthen mutual investment promotion".
According to him, currently, the volume of Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover with the countries of the ECO region amounts to $8 billion. This figure is about 17% of the total trade turnover.
The official emphasized that the main theme of this forum - promotion of investment and trade - is very relevant for us:
"We highly appreciate the role that business plays in the sustainable development and economic integration of the ECO region.
Our organization always attaches particular importance to expanding trade and investment relations with its members, especially supporting joint initiatives in priority areas such as the green economy, agricultural production, digital transformation, and logistics.
The direct communication between entrepreneurs, B2B platforms will ensure the most realistic results of this forum.
“One of the main contributions of this forum could be to highlight topics such as the creation of joint ventures in the region and the harmonization of the legal and regulatory framework to improve the investment and business climate.”
He noted that sustainable development is possible not only through investment, but also through a spirit of trust and cooperation.
“Let us preserve this spirit and turn it into economic stability and tradition for future generations,” he concluded.