EBRD, EU to help attract foreign direct investment to Azerbaijan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Union (EU) and AZPROMO, Azerbaijan’s export and investment promotion agency are teaming up to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) in Azerbaijan, Report informs referring to the EBRD website.

Attracting investors to Azerbaijan’s non-oil sectors and increasing their integration into European value chains are key to further unlocking the country’s economic potential. A five-year national export strategy developed by AZPROMO aims to double the volume of non-oil exports by 2026.

The EBRD and AZPROMO, with financial support from the EU, are developing pitching packs and investment-targeting strategies for up to five priority projects in sectors such as agriculture and fisheries. They will then work to identify investors, especially from European markets.

This initiative includes analyzing target markets and investors, training AZPROMO staff in effective pitching and organizing roadshow events in priority European markets with a view to securing investment for the five projects.

“This is the EBRD’s first technical collaboration with AZPROMO as part of a wider effort to improve the capacity of investment promotion agencies in Eastern Partnership countries, supported by the EU under the EU-EBRD Investment Climate Action Plan. It will support the Eastern Partnership’s agenda for recovery, resilience and reforms, underpinned by the EU Economic and Investment Plan to mobilize investment in Azerbaijan,” EBRD noted.

AZPROMO is the lead investment promotion body in Azerbaijan. It is responsible for attracting FDI to export-oriented sectors and increasing the export capacity of the non-oil sector to support the country’s ongoing economic development.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Azerbaijan and has so far invested close to 3.4 billion euros in more than 180 projects in various sectors of the economy. The Bank’s strategy in Azerbaijan focuses on efforts to help diversify the economy and develop the non-oil private sector.

The EU is the leading grant donor in Azerbaijan, supporting agricultural sector governance reform, strengthening sanitary and phytosanitary measures and promoting the commercialization of traditional crops and food preparations.

On July 2, 2021, the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy outlined a proposal on how to take forward priorities for cooperation with the Eastern Partners in years to come. This agenda is based on the five long-term objectives with resilience at their core. It will be underpinned by a 2.3 billion-euro Economic and Investment Plan comprising grants, blending and guarantees, with the potential to mobilize up to 17 billion euros in public and private investment.