Nov. 11
EBRD increases prognosis for Azerbaijan's economic growth in 2013
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) mentioned the increase of Azerbaijan's economic growth rate in 2013 and the prognosis for GDP growth rate was increased from 3.5 per cent, according to the prognosis in May, to 4.5 per cent.
'The economic growth rate of Azerbaijan has increased thanks to significant fiscal and monetary stimulating measures, as well as stabilisation of hydrocarbon production after its decrease in last two years', the new issue of EBRD report on the perspectives of economic development in the region said.
The EBRD experts believe that the growth rates of Azerbaijan's non-oil sector increased to a double digit level and there is a risk of 'overheating'.
According to the announced EBRD prognosis, Azerbaijan's GDP growth in 2014 will amount to 3.5 per cent compared to four per cent anticipated in May. Inflation in Azerbaijan is anticipated by the bank at the level of 2.7 per cent in 2013 compared to 3.4 per cent anticipated in May.
Nov. 13
Ambassador: Azerbaijan is interested in trade turnover structure diversification with Czech Republic
The Azerbaijani government is interested in diversification of trade turnover with the Czech Republic which today consists mainly of the energy sector products.
"The bilateral trade volume hits $ 1.5 billion today and the vast majority of this amount - around $ 1.3 billion fall to the energy sector products, namely oil and so on," Azerbaijani ambassador to the Czech Republic Tahir Taghizade said. "Now our goal is to diversify the trade turnover structure."
According to the diplomat, both sides have recently showed an interest to expand economic cooperation, but there is imbalance.
Our challenge is to extend Azerbaijan's exports to the Czech Republic by the non-energy sector products, he said.
Italy dissatisfied with level of investment cooperation with Azerbaijan
Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy in 2013 compared to the previous year has increased two-fold, the Italian Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, who heads a delegation of the country participating at the Azerbaijani-Italian business forum, told journalists in Baku.
According to him, the bulk of Italian investments in Azerbaijan are invested in the energy sector which creates a kind of imbalance as mainly other products are imported from Azerbaijan to Italy. "We intend to interest Italian companies in participating in the textile industry, construction and so on," the deputy minister said.
The business forum at Baku involves 130 Italian companies which represent the construction, oil and gas and other sectors of the country.
PM: Trade turnover between Azerbaijan, Turkey to increase to $15 billion
Turkey aims at increasing trade turnover with Azerbaijan up to $15 billion, Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
The Turkish PM made the remarks at a press briefing held after the third meeting of the Supreme Council on Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Turkey.
According to Erdogan, at present the trade turnover between the countries has reached $4.2 billion and it is expected that this figure will increase to $15 billion.
The prime minister also said that Turkey and Azerbaijan are implementing strategically important economic projects, and they are expected to develop in the future.
"Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project is one of the most important economic projects of Azerbaijan and Turkey," Erdogan underscored.
The Turkish PM also said the issues discussed between Azerbaijan and Turkey included the issue of constructing a gas pipeline from Turkey's Igdir province to Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, as well as construction of a railway to Nakhchivan from this province of Turkey.
Azerbaijan, IMF discuss prospects of cooperation in customs sphere
The State Customs Committee (SCC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussed the current state and prospects of cooperation.
According to the statement, the exchange of views took place during a meeting between the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Aydin Aliyev and the head of the IMF mission to Azerbaijan Raja Almarzogi.
In addition, during the meeting they discussed the latest trends in the field of customs cooperation, forecasts and estimates for 2014-2015, the current state of the process of Azerbaijan's membership in the WTO and other issues of mutual interest.
Nov. 14
Azerbaijan, Poland sign intergovernmental agreement on motor traffic
An intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the sphere of international motor traffic was signed between the Transport Ministries of Azerbaijan and Poland in Baku.
The agreement was signed by the Azerbaijani Transport Minister, Ziya Mammadov and his Polish counterpart, Slawomir Nowak.
Mammadov said the signed agreement will play an important role in transportation between Azerbaijan and Poland, as well as in the transportation of goods to third countries.
Ukrainian Vice PM: Positive dynamics observed in energy cooperation with Azerbaijan
The Ukrainian-Azerbaijani Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation discussed a wide range of issues of cooperation between the two countries during its 10th meeting held in Kiev, Ukrinform agency reported.
"We talked in detail about our cooperation in the energy sphere. This is a topic that needs deep study on the professional level," Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Konstantin Grishchenko said at a press briefing after the meeting of the commission.
He noted that the sides have analyzed a number of aspects and plans of works to be conducted in the near future, for the cooperation in the energy sector to reach the level of strategic perspective.
Nov. 15
IMF concerned about capitalization of Azerbaijan's largest bank
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned about the capitalization of the International Bank of Azerbaijan without its restructuring, the head of IMF mission to Azerbaijan Raja Al Marzouqi said at a press conference in Baku.
"We recommend the Azerbaijani government to reconstruct and enlarge the bank by creating an adequate and healthy business model," the head of IMF mission said.
According to Marzouqi, in the current "unhealthy" situation [the merger of the bank without restructuring] the privatization of the bank is impossible.
"Taking into consideration that the bank holds a significant share in the country's banking market, if any problems emerge in it, this can have an impact on the whole financial system of Azerbaijan," Al Marzouqi said.
In October the shareholders of the International Bank of Azerbaijan adopted a conception for increasing the authorized capital by 500 million manat in four years.