BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.8
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Since 1995, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested around $500 million in Azerbaijan, including $73 million through mobilization, Ivana Fernandes Duarte, IFC’s Regional Manager for the South Caucasus, told Trend.
“These funds have financed projects across a range of sectors, including financial services, infrastructure, and manufacturing. In addition, IFC has supported around $100 million in trade through its trade-finance program and provided $250 million for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), Azerbaijan’s sovereign wealth fund, has committed $350 million to three funds managed by the IFC Asset Management Company,” she said.
Duarte pointed out that for the last several years, IFC’s efforts in Azerbaijan have been concentrated on advisory work on financial infrastructure, also creating a legislative framework on investments and strategy for investment promotion.
“IFC’s work in the country involves support in a range of legislative and regulatory initiatives, with a focus on smaller businesses, agriculture, food safety, tourism, and inspection, among others. In alignment, IFC—in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance—continues to advise the government on implementing relevant reforms to make it easier for companies in the country to do business and attract foreign investors,” said the IFC regional manager.
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