BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 10. Azerbaijan
should prepare a unified statistical report covering international
assistance and development programs implemented not only by the
Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA), but also by
various state institutions, universities and companies, Azerbaijani
MP Fariz Ismailzade said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.


He made the remarks during the panel session titled
“Partnerships for Sustainable Development and Effective
Humanitarian Assistance” held as part of the conference “Advancing
Global Solidarity Through Humanitarian Assistance and Development
Cooperation” dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the establishment
of the Azerbaijan International Development Agency (AIDA).


The MP said that seeing the results of AIDA projects during
visits to different countries provides grounds for pride in
Azerbaijan’s international efforts. He cited the work carried out
by ASAN service in Ethiopia, the countries that received vaccine
assistance from Azerbaijan during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as
students who completed projects and programmes financed by AIDA as
examples.


According to Ismailzade, these programmes and projects
contribute not only to strengthening Azerbaijan’s international
image and promoting its foreign policy priorities, but also to
building people-to-people ties between different societies,
non-governmental organizations and other non-state actors. “All of
these are positive aspects. However, based on my observations, we
can do more and do it better,” the MP said.


He noted that statistical data sometimes reflects only the
activities of individual institutions. “We saw AIDA’s statistics
today. However, Azerbaijan is doing much more and on a larger
scale. For example, some universities provide individual
scholarships. At ADA University, where I work, there are hundreds
of students who have completed various programmes. Some of their
education was financed by ministries, while others were supported
by Azerbaijani companies,” Ismailzade said.


The MP stressed that in this regard, it would be appropriate to
prepare a unified statistical report reflecting Azerbaijan’s
overall contribution to international development cooperation
rather than the efforts of a single institution. “There are
numerous programmes implemented by different ministries and
institutions. Therefore, we should try to bring together overall
figures and create unified statistical reports,” he said.


Ismailzade also suggested increasing the number of joint
projects in the future by using the experience of the Turkish
Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA). “In the future, we
should seek to implement joint projects not only with Turkic states
and our Turkic partners, but also with Central Asian countries, as
well as countries in Eastern Europe that are priorities for us,” he
said.


The MP noted that some of these projects could be implemented
not only at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but
also through an open application mechanism. “The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs could announce calls for priority projects and then
accept applications from different parts of the world. This could
increase AIDA’s visibility and expand ties with various societies
and regions,” Ismailzade added.


He said that such an approach could help establish relations
with communities that may not be visible from the perspective of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and contribute to expanding
bilateral dialogue.


Moreover, the official emphasized the importance of continuing
some assistance and development projects at the level of official
bilateral negotiations. “Although some projects are charitable in
nature, they should also be used in official bilateral discussions.
Some countries in need of assistance may provide certain support to
Azerbaijan in return,” he said.


According to Ismailzade, Azerbaijan is a relatively small
country on the global scale and needs the support of its neighbors
and international partners within the United Nations and other
multilateral platforms. “Sometimes we should not forget to include
assistance and development programmes in the format of official
bilateral negotiations,” he said.


The MP congratulated AIDA on its 15th anniversary and highly
praised the agency’s activities. “Although AIDA is still in the
early years of its development, it has achieved remarkable results.
I believe that Azerbaijan will continue this great legacy of Haji
Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, one of the major philanthropists in our
history who also provided assistance to other countries,”
Ismailzade added.