Azerbaijan, Baku, July 28 / Trend A. Badalova, A.Akhundov /
Azerbaijan's presidency in the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) will put the country under the 'spotlight' of international investor community by holding the Bank's key events in Baku, Andrey Kondakov, the president of BSTDB told in interview to Trend.
According to Kondakov, Azerbaijani presidency in the BSTDB Board of Governors will open an opportunity to host the Bank's Annual Meeting events to take place in Baku in June 2013.
"In addition to the meetings of the BSTDB Board of Directors and Board of Governors, Bank intends to hold a Business Forum that will highlight the achievements and investment opportunities offered by Azerbaijan before international development and investor community that BSTDB will invite to Baku," he said.
"We hope that the event will attract attendance from interested banks and businesses from Azerbaijan, as well as from other countries of the Black Sea Region and beyond," Kondakov said.
"The Forum will put Azerbaijan under the 'spotlight', allow participants to learn more about business opportunities in the country, and of course generate dialogue on potential new projects for BSTDB as well," he added.
BSTDB Board elected the Governor for the Republic of Azerbaijan as the new Chairman of the BSTDB Board of Governors during its 14th Annual Meeting in Yerevan on June 24, 2012.
The Governors for the Republic of Bulgaria and Georgia were elected as Deputy Chairmen, for a period of one year until the next Annual Meeting decided to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 9, 2013.
Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev is a manager in BSTDB from the Azerbaijani side, but Finance Minister Samir Sharifov - his deputy.
Kondakov said that in recent years, BSTDB's portfolio in Azerbaijan has developed robustly, and the Bank is well along towards meeting the targets set forth in their country strategy for Azerbaijan elaborated in close cooperation with the Government for the period of 2011-2014.
"Over the period, the BSTDB will focus on providing support for the implementation of the Government economic program and priorities, while responding to the needs of Azerbaijani companies and banks," he said.
In particular, the Bank will expand its financing aimed at supporting the development of micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), promoting export of goods and services, and development of infrastructure, including energy efficiency.
"There is no shortage of demand for BSTDB financing on the part of interested investors. We seek to work with promising and dynamic firms in the non-oil sectors of Azerbaijan," Kondakov said.
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquarters is in Thessaloniki, Greece. BSTDB supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, credit lines, equity and guarantees for projects and trade financing in the public and private sectors in its member countries.