BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 27. Today we are
heavily investing in the East-West transport corridor, which is
needed more than ever due to disruptions in traditional supply
chains, logistics, and transit problems, said President Ilham
Aliyev during his speech at the Azerbaijan-Czechia business forum,
Trend reports.


Speech by President Ilham Aliyev


- Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, dear guests.


We are very glad that, during the official visit of Prime
Minister Babiš, a large business delegation from Czechia
accompanies him. This is a very good sign of mutual interest in
doing business together. Business communities usually make their
decisions based on the profitability of projects, but at the same
time, a lot depends on the legal framework and political
dimension.


So I think today the leaders of Czechia and Azerbaijan are
sending a very clear message to their business communities that it
is time to engage actively in bilateral trade and investments, and
to look into practical projects on how we can create synergy. The
very solid political background, I think, is today’s high-level
political contacts.


As was already mentioned today, we met with Prime Minister Babiš
three months ago in Davos and now here in Gabala. So this really
demonstrates that both sides are very interested in enhancing
partnership in different areas. And today, along with many
important issues on the political agenda, including the regional
and global political agenda, we also spoke extensively about
business opportunities and mutual investments. We touched upon
concrete projects, and definitely, during the business forum, all
these issues are being addressed.


Of course, apart from the legal framework, an important factor
for any investor is the economic situation in the area of potential
investments. I can inform the audience that Azerbaijan’s financial
and economic situation is stable. For many years—already nine
years—our currency has been stable. In fact, it has remained
unchanged. One dollar is 1.7 manat since 2017. And I think this is
an important indicator for any potential investor, local or
foreign. During the last 20 years, 350 billion US dollars have been
invested in Azerbaijan, and almost half of that has come from
foreign partners. So a positive investment climate was, of course,
the main target, because it is obvious that without investments no
economy can develop, especially in the turbulent times of the
international agenda.


We have managed to strengthen our financial system by reducing
dependence on borrowing. We actually stopped major borrowing
several years ago in order to bring down the foreign debt. And now
we have started to borrow again because foreign debt is now only
6.1% of our GDP.


And there are many things to do with respect to infrastructure
projects and the reconstruction of liberated areas of Garabagh and
East Zangezur. So we have already started active engagement with
leading financial institutions such as the World Bank, EBRD, Asian
Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and others,
so that we can create more dynamism in addressing important
projects we are facing. With respect to international exposure, we
can also report that Moody’s Rating Agency upgraded Azerbaijan’s
credit rating to investment grade with a positive outlook, which I
think is also a good signal to investors that Azerbaijan is a
proper place to invest their money. And definitely political
stability, social stability, safety, and security are all factors
that every investor first takes into account when deciding whether
to do business in a country or not.


With respect to prospects of bilateral cooperation, first I
would like to say that we are very grateful to Prime Minister Babiš
that he is paying his first visit outside the EU to Azerbaijan. We
consider it a sign of friendship, a sign of respect, and also a
demonstration that both countries need each other. We have already
established good partnership in the energy field with uninterrupted
oil supplies from Azerbaijan. And today we broadly discussed
opportunities to begin cooperation in the area of natural gas and
to look at it from a broader perspective, to engage in strategic
cooperation in the energy sector, which could include oil, gas,
refinery products, petrochemicals, fertilizers, electrical energy,
AI, data centers, and all those areas where both countries are
actively working bilaterally with great potential.


One of the areas which also already generates results is the
defense industry. Czechia is very famous for its modern and
efficient defense industry products. We have already signed several
contracts with companies from Czechia and are now planning to
increase the scope of activity and engage in joint manufacturing.
While we are speaking, the teams are working on that. This is also
a very important area for any country, especially in times when
wars and conflicts emerge like mushrooms after the rain. Every
country must be prepared to defend its sovereignty, territorial
integrity, and the inviolability of its borders. From this point of
view, I think we have established a very solid basis for
cooperation in this area with huge potential for growth.


Among the important decisions we made today jointly with Mr.
Prime Minister is to elevate the level of co-chairmanship of the
Joint Economic Commission to the ministerial level, and to
organize, hopefully this year—which would be very good—a session of
the Joint Intergovernmental Commission, which last convened three
years ago. So many things are now in the pipeline. We need updates,
we need exchange of information, and we also need to guide the
business community and provide a better environment for them.


With respect to potential investments in Azerbaijan in priority
areas for our country, first of course is industrial development
and joint manufacturing. We also spoke extensively about the
transport sector, where Czechia is very well known, to establish
joint manufacturing in Azerbaijan with leading producers of
transport infrastructure.


We in Azerbaijan are actively developing the renewable energy
sector with huge potential. Our plan is to have 8 gigawatts of
solar, wind, and hydropower by 2032. This is based not only on
plans but also on already signed contracts. A lot of site works
will be needed for that, and this could definitely be one of the
areas.


Connectivity. Today we are heavily investing in the East-West
transport corridor, which is needed more than ever due to
disruptions in traditional supply chains, logistics, and transit
problems. Azerbaijan is providing a safe and reliable transit route
from East to West and vice versa, and even from North to South and
South to North. We are situated at the crossroads of both
corridors, and with large infrastructure investments in recent
years, we have already created a major asset needed by many
countries.


Tourism could also be an important area of partnership. Both
countries are rich in history, culture, monuments, and nature. By
the way, today’s meeting is taking place in one of the ancient
parts not only of Azerbaijan but of the broader geography. Gabala
was for many centuries the capital of the ancient state of
Caucasian Albania, and today it is, I would say, the tourism
capital of Azerbaijan. We also need to work on connections,
people-to-people contacts, and airline connections, which we
already have, but given our plans, we will likely need to expand
them.


We also spoke about potential cooperation in air cargo
transportation, where Azerbaijan already plays an important role in
the region. Many other areas were also discussed, and although we
cannot cover all issues in these remarks, I am sure that the
business communities are gathering today with a very clear
understanding of the potential for doing business in a friendly
environment. I hope that representatives of business circles from
Czechia and Azerbaijan will also become good friends, and that this
friendship will start today and continue.


Once again, Mr. Prime Minister and dear guests, welcome to
Azerbaijan.