Third meeting of Members of Board of Caspian European Club held
The third meeting of the Members of the Board of the Caspian European Club has been held in Baku under the chairmanship of First Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Caspian European Club Telman Aliyev.
During the meeting the Members of the Board discussed the Club's strategy, as well as new projects and objectives to be implemented by the end of 2018.
Meetings with the participation of the Members of the Board and Heads of the working committees of the Caspian European Club are held on a monthly basis, Telman Aliyev said. Each meeting is traditionally held in one of the offices of the Members of the Board. This time the meeting was held at the office of Ziraat Bank Azerbaijan headed by Avni Demirci, who at the same time heads the Banking & Finance Committee within the Caspian European Club.
Each Member of the Board submitted the report and spoke about the current activities and future plans of the working committees headed by them. At the same time during the meeting they approved the plan of action by the end of the year. The Members of the Board discussed preparations for the 5th Caspian Energy Forum Tbilisi - 2018 to be held on April 18, for the 6th Caspian Energy Forum Nakhchivan - 2018 to be held in June, for the Caspian Energy Forum Baku - 2018 scheduled for September and Caspian Energy Forum Prague - 2018 to be hosted in December this year.
The Caspian European Club was established in June 2002 with the support of the largest oil and gas companies operating in the Caspian-Black Sea region. His Excellency President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is the Chairman of the Caspian European Club, Caspian American Club and Caspian Asian Club.
Since the very establishment the Caspian European Club has promoted attraction of revenues from the oil industry towards the development of the non-oil sector. The Caspian European Club, Caspian American Club and Caspian Asian Club, which bring together more than 5,000 member companies and organizations, operate in 70 countries around the world and make proactive efforts to support a dialogue between the government agencies and the private sector.
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Azerbaijan, Morocco to continue co-op in several key areas: FM
Azerbaijan and Morocco will continue cooperation in several key areas, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said March 5 in Baku at a joint press conference with Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Nasser Bourita.
The sides discussed cooperation in the fields of agriculture, energy and transport, and noted the need for cooperation of the two countries' private sectors, Mammadyarov said.
In addition, as part of the meeting, the parties discussed possible holding of a joint business forum, as well as implementation of a number of joint projects to be discussed in detail in late 2018 - early 2019.
Mammadyarov added that Morocco and Azerbaijan render each other great support as part of cooperation in international organizations.
In turn, Nasser Bourita noted that relations between Azerbaijan and Morocco will develop not only at the diplomatic level, but also through active economic cooperation.
Proposals on cooperation between the business circles of Azerbaijan and Morocco will be prepared in the near future, he said.
The minister added that the two countries have great investment potential, which will become one of the key aspects of bilateral cooperation.
The diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Morocco were established in December 1992.
According to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee, the country's trade turnover with Morocco amounted to approximately $3.9 million in 2017.
Azerbaijan, Morocco ink several documents
Azerbaijan and Morocco have signed a number of agreements at a meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Nasser Bourita in Baku March 5.
The two ministers signed the "Convention between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income", "Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco on cooperation in the field of security and combating crime", "Protocol of Intent between Azerbaijan Railways CJSC and the Moroccan National Railways" and the "Protocol of Intent between Azerbaijan State Marine Academy and the Higher Institute of Maritime Studies of Morocco.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Morocco were established in December 1992.
According to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee, trade turnover with Morocco amounted to about $3.9 million in 2017.
New investment funds may appear in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) is discussing the possibility of creating joint investment funds with foreign partners, AIC Executive Director Rovshan Najaf said at a press conference in Baku March 5.
He didn't specify with which companies negotiations are underway, noting that all details will be revealed later.
AIC is already a shareholder of one of the investment funds - Caspian International Investment Company.
The Caspian International Investment Company was established in 2008, and the AIC has a 24.1 percent share in the company. Other shareholders of the investment company include the Islamic Development Bank, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, Al Ahmar Group and AREF Investment Group.
Najaf said that in general rendering support for the non-oil sector, in particular, through the creation of industrial zones in Azerbaijan's districts will be the main task of the AIC in 2018.
In 2018, such zones will start operating in the Masalli, Hajigabul and Sabirabad districts, he added.
Oman’s low-cost airline plans to launch flights to Azerbaijan
Oman's low-cost airline SalamAir plans to include Azerbaijan in its destinations list, Omani media reported March 5.
On Feb. 28, SalamAir launched flights to Iran's Shiraz and further plans to expand the geography of flights by including Georgia, Bangladesh and other countries as well, in its list of destinations.
SalamAir also plans to launch new flights to Iran's Tehran and Mashhad.
Azerbaijan eyes to strengthen compulsory real estate insurance oversight
Azerbaijan intends to strengthen compulsory real estate insurance oversight, Mustafa Abbasbayli, head of the Azerbaijan Insurers Association (AIA), told Trend March 6.
He said that the AIA is analyzing the possibility of creating new tools to control the implementation of this type of insurance.
"Presently, there are several compulsory types of insurance in Azerbaijan, and their implementation is insignificant in the market," he noted. "This especially concerns compulsory real estate insurance. The share of the market's coverage by this type of insurance is only 10-15 percent, whereas the insurance value of the real estate market is roughly 200-300 million manats. The reason is that there is currently no effective oversight over the conclusion of contracts on compulsory insurance. We plan to create and implement new oversight tools to increase the market's coverage by the compulsory types of insurance."
He added that there are plans to turn a number of voluntary types of insurance into mandatory ones.
"This step is one of the opportunities for the development of voluntary types of insurance," Abbasbayli said. "We plan to transfer several types of insurance from the voluntary category to the mandatory category. After sufficient development of these types of insurance, they can be returned back to the voluntary category."
According to the data of Azerbaijan's Financial Markets Supervision Chamber, fees on compulsory real estate insurance amounted to 27.93 million manats in 2017, with premiums totaling 2.83 million manats.
Currently, 13 insurance companies operate in the country in the field of compulsory insurance of real estate (OJSC Ateshgah Insurance, OJSC Standard Insurance, OJSC AtaInsurance, OJSC Xalq Insurance, OJSC PASHA Insurance, OJSC AXA MBASK, OJSC AzInsurance, State Insurance commercial company AzerInsurance, OJSC Meqa Insurance, OJSC Silkway Insurance, OJSC Azerbaijan Senaye Insurance, OJSC Qala Insurance, OJSC Gunay Insurance).
Compulsory real estate insurance covers all types of buildings including apartments, houses belonging to natural and legal entities and state property. Damage done to the property by a fire, an explosion, a short-circuit in electricity network, crash of sewerage or water supply systems, natural disasters etc. is considered an insurance case.
Tariff on this variety of insurance is 0.2 percent of insurance amount.
Maximum real estate insurance amount in Baku is 25,000 manats, in Ganja, Sumgayit and Nakhchivan - 20,000 manats, in other settlements - 15,000 manats. The price of the insurance is 50, 40 and 30 manats correspondingly.
The Compulsory Insurance Bureau of Azerbaijan (ISB) includes 16 companies, 13 of which are authorized to sell policies of compulsory insurance of real estate.
Azerbaijan expanding access of small business to soft loans
The National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support of Azerbaijan, the Center for Simplified Support to Family Businesses (ABAD) and Azer Turk Bank signed a protocol of intent for cooperation.
The signing ceremony took place at the Baku Business Center on March 6.
The protocol was signed by Chairman of Executive Board at Azer Turk Bank Orkhan Huseynov, ABAD Director Rufat Elchiyev and Executive Director of the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support of Azerbaijan Shirzad Abdullayev.
According to the document, the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support of Azerbaijan will support through soft loans the investment projects of small businesses that work with ABAD.
Azer Turk Bank, for its part, will act as an authorized bank through which these loans are provided to entrepreneurs.
The annual interest rate on soft loans, which entrepreneurs receive, is 4 percent.
"Azeraeronavigation", IATA to co-op in number of key areas
"Azeraeronavigation" Air Traffic Control Department (AZANS) of Azerbaijan Airlines and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in a number of key areas on March 7.
The agreement was signed by Director of AZANS Farkhan Guliyev and IATA Vice President Rafael Schwartzman in Madrid as part of the annual World Air Traffic Management Congress.
The agreement envisages cooperation in organization of air traffic, air traffic management, training of air navigation personnel, the development of PANS/OPS flight procedures and accreditation of services. The cooperation between AZANS and IATA will help ensure safe and efficient air traffic services in the region.
Director of the AZANS Farkhan Guliyev also met with the Director General of the Organization for Safety and Air Navigation Support of Singapore (CAAS) Kevin Shum. During the meeting, the sides discussed cooperation in the field of planning transit flights and air traffic safety.
Presentation of new Airspace Supervision & Efficiency Center (ASEC) of AZAL, which was opened at Heydar Aliyev International Airport jointly with Thales, was also held as part of the World Air Traffic Management Congress.
Within the event, the launch of a new high-tech project on introducing the "Virtual Air Traffic Control Tower" with the AZANS Control Center at Heydar Aliyev International Airport was also announced. President of Azerbaijan Airlines, Jahangir Askerov and Vice President of Thales International, Raphael Eskinazi signed the corresponding contract in Baku on February 8. The project will be implemented in a consortium with the French company Thales and the Canadian company Searide, which specializes in introducing innovations in the aviation industry and is a "pioneer" in the development of digital air traffic control towers.
"Virtual tower" will allow to control air traffic in the airfield and provide flight information services remotely with the use of artificial intelligence and digital systems. At the same time, the required level of operational safety, equivalent to the level of a real tower controlled by air traffic controllers, is fully complied with, which will allow to timely adapt the business to the growing demands and the rapidly changing market of services.
The World Air Traffic Management Congress is the largest international professional event in the field of ATS. Unique exhibition and conference attracting over 7,500 specialists from all over the world each year, is held as part of the event. Operated by the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) in partnership with the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA), World Air Traffic Management Congress brings together the world's leading product developers, experts, stakeholders, and air navigation service providers.
Azerbaijan to have “government cloud”
The electronic government (e-government) platform of Azerbaijan is being transferred to "cloud" technologies infrastructure, according to a report of the country's Cabinet of Ministers.
According to the strategic roadmap for the development of telecommunications and information technologies, work has begun to create "Government Cloud" (G-Cloud).
As part of the project, an assessment of the scope of work and the necessary financial resources for the implementation of the tasks was conducted, meetings were held and a questionnaire was prepared, which is currently being filled by the relevant structures of the country, says the report.
The main goal in introducing the "cloud" technologies is to reduce costs, improve the quality of services for citizens, and ensure information security.
The e-government platform is a key tool supporting work with citizens and enterprises of the public and private sectors. It is designed to reduce the number of documents, requested from citizens due to the fact that various structures will interact with each other electronically.
The e-gov.az portal serves for interaction of state structures.
The access to electronic services on the portal is carried out using an electronic signature, identification data of private entrepreneurs and citizens, verification data (login and password), as well as mobile authentication system that can be obtained in electronic form after registering on the portal.