Baku hosts forum on competitiveness

7 September 2018 13:57 (UTC+04:00)

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By Sara Israfilbayova

Investments in the Azerbaijani economy from all sources from 2003 to 2017 amounted to $236 billion.

First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Yagub Eyyubov made the remarks at a forum on competitiveness held on September 7.

Eyyubov noted that half of this amount accounted for foreign investments.

Addressing the event, Chairman of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan Elman Rustamov noted that over the seven months of this year, inflation rate in Azerbaijan was 2.8 percent.

“Inflation rate in Azerbaijan has stabilized since 2017. In the first seven months of 2018, this figure in the country was 2.8 percent. Until the end of the year, according to our forecasts, inflation rate will be below the target index,” Rustamov stressed.

In turn, Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said that the total investments in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas sector amount to $95 billion. Speaking of the Southern Gas Corridor, the minister noted that the countries of Central and Western Europe can join the project in the future.

Vusal Gasimli, Executive Director at Center for Economic Reforms and Communication, told reporters that the total turnover of more than 200 member companies represented on the forum is $30 trillion.

“Most of these companies intend to invest in Azerbaijan, the talks with them will be held in Baku, and new investments will be attracted to Azerbaijan, as a result of which the competitiveness of Azerbaijan’s economy will grow,” Gasimli noted.

The Forum aims to determine how the private sector of the U.S. can work with the government and the private sector of Azerbaijan to create growth mechanisms for the Azerbaijani economy.

The ACF 2018 Forum is aimed at identifying the steps that the public and private sectors of Azerbaijan and the U.S. can take to enhance the competitiveness of Azerbaijan.

The ACF 2018 forum is organized by the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) in partnership with the Center for Economic Reforms and Communication of Azerbaijan.

The companies, members of the Fortune 500, are taking part at the Forum.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is