“Central Asia and Azerbaijan are a single historical and cultural geographical region of strategic importance in world politics with a growing economy, demography and geopolitical potential,” stressed President Ilham Aliyev, who was invited as an honorary guest to the 5th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Dushanbe, 14 September.
Aliyev said that over the past 2 years he has made 9 visits to the states of Central Asia.
“One of the important factors of bilateral cooperation is the growth of mutual trade and investment. It is gratifying that the indicators in these two areas have a steady growth. Last year, Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with Central Asian countries increased by more than 3 times. For 7 months of this year, the growth is another 50%,” he said.
Joint investment funds have been established, and the volume of mutual investments of more than $ 1 billion in the next 3 years has been agreed.
As President Aliyev noted, the Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan are already implementing many projects in the field of industrial cooperation, mechanical engineering, automotive industry, shipbuilding and agriculture, namely, cotton growing, sericulture, horticulture and animal husbandry.
An important place in the relationship is occupied by the transport and logistics sector.
“Azerbaijan is a reliable transit country for the Central Asian countries on the way to the markets of Turkey and Europe. Transit in the opposite direction is no less important. Our brothers in Central Asia know that the entire transport and logistics infrastructure of Azerbaijan is open to them,” he continued.
Aliyev also said that Azerbaijan is now modernizing the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway. According to him, next year the cargo traffic on this road will up from 1 to 5 million tons.
“At the same time, the capabilities of the Baku Commercial port are expanding from today’s 15 to 25 million tons. Azerbaijan has the largest merchant fleet in the Caspian Sea, numbering more than 50 vessels. Taking into account the growing demand of shippers from Central Asian countries, we are actively working to expand the capabilities of our shipyard. After the completion of new investment projects, the number of tankers and bulk carriers produced will grow from today’s 6 to 10-15 per year,” the President of Azerbaijan said.
In order to attract more transit cargo, Aliyev stressed the need to optimize tariffs, simplify and harmonize regulatory and customs procedures.
At the end of his speech, the head of Azerbaijan invited the heads of Central Asian states to the summit on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the UN Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia – SPECA, which will be held in Baku in November this year. ///nCa, 15 September 2023
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