Minister: New era has arrived for Azerbaijan

Being an important transportation hub in the region, Azerbaijan is continuously improving cross-border and transit procedures and logistics, digitalizing logistics system and trade processes, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said at the Virtual CAREC High-Level Session during the Annual General Meeting “CAREC at 20: Reimagining Regional Cooperation through Digital Transformation”, which is taking place during the ADB’s annual general meeting, Report informs.

“You may know that the new era has arrived for the region and particularly for Azerbaijan. The rehabilitation and development of the territories liberated from almost 30 years occupation by neighboring Armenia, including establishment of the necessary infrastructure, enabling incentive for business development and implementation of new transport and economic corridors, especially Zangezur corridor are among the list of priorities on our economic agenda for years to come. These activities will certainly contribute to the enhancement of regional cooperation,” the minister said.

Reconstruction of the region will be carried out both through public investment and with the involvement of private funds. Attractive conditions will be created for investors, while the openness of the Azerbaijani side to foreign investments doesn’t mean that it cannot do without them, Jabbarov said earlier. In 2021, the Azerbaijani government intends to spend about $1.5 billion in public investment on the restoration of the region.

He noted that in addition to agriculture, tourism and mining industry will develop in the region - as a result of the war, 2/3 of the Soyudlyu (Zod) gold deposit in the Kalbajar district was transferred to Azerbaijan.

The region’s economy will also be affected by the reconstruction of the Nakhchivan transport corridor and the restoration of the railway from Azerbaijan to Turkey through Armenia and Nakhchivan. Restoration of communication with Nakhchivan is beneficial to all countries of the region, including Armenia, Jabbarov noted.

According to economists, within 10 years Baku will spend about $60 billion on the restoration of Karabakh.

The opening of the Zangezur corridor will have an impact on the economies of Turkic-speaking countries with a nominal GDP of more than $1.1 trillion, and will also create conditions for increasing the importance of the East-West and North-South transport corridors.

This will ensure the access of Nakhchivan through the main territory of Azerbaijan to these transport corridors.

In particular, this is important from the point of view of ensuring access of Nakhchivan businessmen to the East-West transport corridor. The corridor will also strengthen ties with the exclave of Azerbaijan - Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and Turkey, and will further increase the geo-economic importance of Azerbaijan. The most important thing is that after many years the Turkic world will unite again through the Zangezur corridor.