BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 21. The State Oil
Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has formalized its intent for long-term
strategic cooperation with BlackRock, one of the largest asset
management companies in the world, and its subsidiary, Global
Infrastructure Partners (GIP), in Davos. The collaboration aims not
only to provide access to global infrastructure funds but also to
create investment opportunities in infrastructure projects in
Azerbaijan and related to Azerbaijan.
What new perspectives will arise from considering investment
opportunities in infrastructure assets related to Azerbaijan?
Economist expert Khalid Karimli told Trend that BlackRock is
the world's largest asset management company. It's the number one
fund globally in terms of the size of its portfolio and investment
opportunities. GIP is its partner for infrastructure.
"SOFAZ itself manages assets, while BlackRock, in contrast,
raises capital from investors and allocates these funds across a
diverse range of assets. The State Oil Fund primarily invests the
nation's oil and gas revenues.
Recently, a memorandum of intent was signed between the two
entities, marking the beginning of a long-term strategic
partnership. Notably, this memorandum does not establish any
binding legal obligations for either party but serves as a
preliminary framework outlining the contours of their future
collaboration."
The expert emphasized two key points of significance in this
development. First, this marks the commencement of SOFAZ’s
partnership with the world’s largest asset management firm,
BlackRock. This collaboration opens up avenues for SOFAZ to
actively engage in projects led by BlackRock.
"Of particular note is the potential for SOFAZ to invest in
global infrastructure projects managed by Global Infrastructure
Partners (GIP), a subsidiary of BlackRock. Essentially, through
GIP, SOFAZ aims to secure stakes in projects where BlackRock is
already involved. It appears that the fund has strategically chosen
to allocate a portion of its portfolio to infrastructure projects,
which is a prudent decision," the expert observed.
According to the expert, the interest rate levels, the expected
profitability, and how the investments will be assessed later are
separate matters.
"However, having infrastructure projects in the investment
portfolio is strategically the right approach. SOFAZ is beginning
its cooperation in this direction.
The second point is the issue of attracting these investments to
Azerbaijan. This is also a very interesting and important matter.
There is a need for investment in areas such as artificial
intelligence, the creation of digital data banks, and projects in
these fields," the expert pointed out.
Karimli emphasized that both directions are crucial for the
country.
