Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

A conference entitled “Public-Private Cooperation in Creating Innovation Clusters: Available Assets and Use of Local Raw Materials” was held in Baku on March 16.

Addressing the conference, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov said that it is necessary to accelerate creation of innovation clusters in Azerbaijan.

He noted that in this direction, it is necessary to establish cooperation with educational and scientific institutions.

“The methodology and mechanisms for creating innovation clusters should be developed, and the functions of all participants should be determined. The rational use of resources and the channeling of accumulated assets into the industry is also an important task,” he noted.

Safarov went on to say that Azerbaijan’s Economy Ministry is completing the first stage of assessment at SOCAR Polymer, a polymer plant of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, in Sumgayit city.

The project will help the facility’s products to enter the Azerbaijani market as raw materials for production, according to the deputy minister.

“For this purpose, negotiations with a number of companies are already underway,” Safarov said.

He noted that an innovation cluster will be created at the SOCAR Polymer. This work will be implemented with the support of the Economy Ministry and the Research Institute of the Ministry, he added.

Safarov said that a register of state assets, which may be directed to the development of the industry, is being prepared in Azerbaijan.

The SOCAR Polymer project is carried out in Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park. At the first stage, production capacity of SOCAR Polymer will total 120,000 tons of polyethylene and 180,000 tons of polypropylene. The total capacity may reach 570,000 tons by 2021.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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