Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan in the field of energy efficiency, EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti said at a press conference, dedicated to his visit to the region, in Baku on July 15.

Chakrabarti said one of the many prospective directions of cooperation with Azerbaijan is the efficient use of energy.

According to him, the EBRD also believes that it is possible to work in supporting businesswomen.

"For example, there are specialized loan products for businesswomen in Turkey and other neighboring countries," Chakrabarti said.

Chakrabarti said further that Azerbaijan has enough spheres with great potential for development in the non-oil sector, such as agriculture.

EBRD has delivered loans worth $2.1 billion under 134 projects in Azerbaijan so far. Around $1.4 billion of these funds have been spent to support 125 projects in the private sector.

Stressing that his first visit to Azerbaijan was very successful, Chakrabarti highlighted the economic achievements made by Azerbaijan in the past 10 years.

He pointed out that Azerbaijan has achieved considerable economic success in recent years, stressing the high rates of poverty reduction in the country.

"Azerbaijan's economy experienced a tough transition process, which resulted in significant reduction of the poverty level in the country from 50 percent in 2001 to the current 6 percent," Chakrabarti said.

He noted that such a significant rate of poverty reduction is one of the rare examples in the history of mankind. "I congratulate the Azerbaijani people and government on this success," he said.

"As one of the largest investors in the non-oil sector of the Azerbaijani economy, EBRD is proud of its certain role in the poverty reduction in the country," Chakrabarti said.

According to Chakrabarti, around 6.7 billion euros have been invested in the projects implemented with EBRD's involvement in Azerbaijan over the past 20 years.

"Last year was very successful for us," he added. "Around 16 projects for a total amount of 90 million euros were financed. All these projects are in the private sector. We aim to provide Azerbaijan with comprehensive support, including in the area of economic diversification. And this is yielding results. The non-oil sector growth rate hit 10 percent in 2012."

The EBRD president also said the cooperation between Azerbaijan's government and the bank is expanding also this year, and the bank intends to further expand its cooperation with Azerbaijan.

Among the priority areas in Azerbaijan EBRD supports economic diversification, the development of small and medium entreprise, the financial and agricultural sectors and the capital market.

Chakrabarti also said EBRD welcomes the Azerbaijani government's efforts to combat corruption.

"Combating corruption is important to maintain and develop a favorable investment climate in the country," Chakrabarti said. He noted that during his meeting with representatives of the civil society he was informed about a number of measures taken in this area and success in uprooting corruption.

According to Chakrabarti, the main point is that the Azerbaijani government has undertaken significant commitments to resolve this problem, adding that EBRD will continue to exert all efforts to help Azerbaijan in this sphere.

At a meeting of the delegation led by EBRD President Chakrabarti with Azerbaijani Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev, it was noted that Baku may host the annual meeting of the EBRD Board of Directors in 2017.

Chakrabarti welcomed the initiative to hold the Board meeting in Baku, stressing that he will continue working for the development of relations with Azerbaijan. He also put forward the initiative on holding Days of Azerbaijan at the EBRD headquarters.

The EBRD chief also said the bank's mission dealing with the development of capital markets will visit Azerbaijan in fall.

"A mission consisting of the bank's specialists on capital markets will visit Azerbaijan in September-October 2013 and will continue more detailed discussions in this area," he added.