BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 20. On May 20, Sahil
Babayev, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan, met
with Rolande Pryce, the World Bank’s Regional Director for the
South Caucasus, who is currently visiting our country, Trend reports via the
country's Ministry of Finance.
The meeting discussed the current state of cooperation between
Azerbaijan and the World Bank, joint projects in the energy and
transport sectors, as well as priority areas for the future. In
addition, as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum
(WUF13) taking place in Baku, an exchange of views took place on
opportunities to expand cooperation in the field of sustainable
urban development and infrastructure.
Minister Sahil Babayev noted that cooperation with the World
Bank makes a significant contribution to Azerbaijan’s
socio-economic development and highlighted the successful
development of the partnership in the areas of energy transition,
strengthening transport links, infrastructure modernization, social
protection, employment, and institutional reforms. He highlighted
the importance of cooperation in the energy sector, emphasizing the
special role of the “AZURE” project in Azerbaijan’s strategy for
the transition to green energy. It is reported that, as part of the
project, work is being carried out to integrate renewable energy
sources into the national power grid and expand the electricity
transmission infrastructure.
Referring to the “Regional Connectivity and Development”
project, implemented with the support of the World Bank, Babayev
noted that the completion of the reconstruction of the
Salyan-Bilasuvar road corridor is of great importance in terms of
strengthening regional ties and improving logistics infrastructure.
Potential financing options for the rehabilitation of the
Bilasuvar-Astara section of the M3 highway were also discussed, and
the strategic role of regional transport corridors in strengthening
economic integration was emphasized.
In turn, Rolande Pryce expressed satisfaction with the
development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the World Bank
and expressed interest in further expanding cooperation in the
areas of energy infrastructure, climate resilience, “green”
development, social protection, employment, and human capital
development. She noted that the World Bank’s participation in WUF13
is of great importance in terms of expanding partnerships in the
areas of sustainable urban development and infrastructure
development.
The parties also emphasized the importance of continuing the
dialogue between Azerbaijan and the World Bank to identify future
strategic directions.
