Azerbaijan’s joining “Silk Road Economic Belt” opens huge potential for investors
Azerbaijan’s participation in the “Silk Road Economic Belt” is a great potential for investors, as the new railway lines envisaged by the project will simplify the delivery of goods between Azerbaijan and China in both directions.
Sahil Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Economy Minister made the remark while addressing the CIS Global Business Forum in Dubai, according to a message on the forum’s website.
The Silk Road Economic Belt is the land-based component that together with the oceanic Maritime Silk Road forms One Belt, One Road, a Chinese government economic development framework for primarily integrating trade and investment in Eurasia.
Babayev further noted that the “Silk Road Economic Belt” will
create great opportunities for Azerbaijan’s development, in
particular, in the spheres of agriculture, tourism, food industry
and machine building.
“The decline in oil prices opens great opportunities for Azerbaijan
in the areas of strengthening the economic diversification and
attracting foreign investors to the non-oil sector, especially
investors from the UAE and the member states of the Cooperation
Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG),” noted
Babayev.
The official noted that despite the fact that low oil prices
have affected Azerbaijan’s incomes, the country enjoys good
opportunities for attracting investment to other spheres.
“Diversification of the non-oil sector is our main priority in
2016,” said Babayev adding that it is a long process, but the
country has some achievements in this field.
Currently, the share of the non-oil sector in GDP is 71 percent, he
said, adding that Azerbaijan has taken some measures to improve the
business environment and attraction of investments.
“Last year, Azerbaijan introduced more liberal tax legislation for
small and medium businesses and facilitated its access for
financing,” he said. Visa simplification regime facilitates the
access of foreign business to the Azerbaijani market.
Today Azerbaijan is determined to use its transportation potential, by turning into the transport hub between East and West. Many countries including Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan and China are interested in the opportunities to reach markets of interest by means of Azerbaijan, which makes the transportation more convenient, fast and cost-efficient.
Along with applying attractive transportation fees, the country is also simplifying its transit procedures.
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