Azerbaijani delegation held several meetings in Washington

Baku. 8 October. REPORT.AZ/ A delegation, headed by Finance Minister Samir Sharifov and consisting of the representatives of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), Southern Gas Corridor CJSC and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has attended annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Washington (USA) October 6-7, Report informs citing Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance.

According to the information, a video message from US President Barack Obama was played in the official opening ceremony of the annual meeting, attended by the IMF and World Bank member countries' high-ranking state and government officials, representatives of international financial institutions, private sector and civil society as well as discussions were held on current state of the world economy and main directions of future development, sustainable and balanced development strategies, poverty reduction, regulation of financial markets and effectiveness of financial assistance, as well as challenges ahead the global economy.

During S.Sharifov's meetings with the World Bank Vice President Cyril Muller, Head of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and World Bank Executive Vice President Keiko Honda, European Investment Bank Vice President Pim van Ballekom, Asian Development Bank Vice Presidents Wencai Zhang and Diwakar Gupta and with officials of several leading commercial banks, detailed information was provided on macroeconomic situation in Azerbaijan, conducted economic reforms as well as importance of the projects, jointly implemented with international financial institutions, and long-term successful cooperation were stressed.

Also, exchange of views conducted on the issues regarding development of the "Shah Deniz" gas-condensate field second phase, participation of the mentioned the organizations in financing the Southern Gas Corridor project, which will transport the produced natural gas, as well as on the prospects for cooperation.

During the visit, Azerbaijani delegation also held meetings with the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin, US Department of State Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein and U.S. Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for International Markets and Development Marisa Lago. In the meetings, it was noted that development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, continuation of traditional strategic cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, as well as the US government's support for implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project highly appreciated in Azerbaijan. Also, importance of the efforts on the promotion of trans-continental transport in the region and works done stressed, also, discussions held on close cooperation within international financial institutions on transnational projects and other issues of mutual interest.