Minister: Azerbaijan actively rebuilds liberated lands
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan is actively restoring all infrastructure on the territories liberated from Armenia's occupation, Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov has said.
He made the remarks at the 10th meeting of the Turkic Council's economy ministers held in Baku on September 10.
"The process of active restoration of all infrastructure is underway on the liberated territories. All our projects will be implemented in accordance with the world-class innovative solutions," the minister said.
Jabbarov added that the creation of the Aghdam industrial park had already begun.
"The liberation of Karabakh has created new prospects and new challenges. As a result of the liberation of our lands, we can talk about the Zangazur corridor and direct communication with Nakhchivan and Turkey, as well as access to the markets of Central Asia,” Jabbarov stated.
Moreover, the minister underlined that Azerbaijan is ready to create the necessary conditions for foreign companies in the country's liberated lands.
"The liberation of Karabakh has created new opportunities for cooperation with companies of Turkic-speaking countries," he said.
Touching upon the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister emphasized that the Azerbaijani government has allocated $2.5 billion to fight the pandemic. He noted that these funds were directed to several business and social structures and to ensuring banks' liabilities.
Likewise, speaking about the country's cooperation with the Turkic-speaking countries, Jabbarov noted that the trade between Azerbaijan and the Turkic-speaking countries amounted to $2.6 billion for the seven months of 2021.
The minister noted that the volume of the trade turnover with the Turkic-speaking countries amounted to 15 percent of the country's total turnover. In particular, the minister emphasized that Azerbaijan's trade with Hungary increased by 75 percent.
Jabbarov invited the Turkic Council member countries to participate in the development of the Alat Free Economic Zone (FEZ).
“The Alat FEZ aims to attract new technologies to Azerbaijan, develop the country's investment potential. The FEZ’s legal basis provides for the protection of the interests of all participants in economic activity. Investors and legal entities will be completely exempt from taxes and payments, customs duties, from taxes on employees' salaries," the minister said.
Moreover, he stressed that Azerbaijan's economy grew by more than 3 percent in 2021.
Turkic Council Secretary-General Baghdad Amreyev noted that many companies of the Turkic Council are keen to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijan's liberated lands.
"There is great potential for work in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan," Amreyev noted.
The Turkic Council chief said that the council's working group will complete the creation of a support fund for the Turkic-speaking states within the next two weeks. He added that the work is underway on creating a program to support the media, SMBs, and a number of other areas.
"It is planned to reach a multilateral agreement on free trade. In addition, it is planned to expand the electronic commerce of our countries,” the secretary-general said.
It should be noted that the Baku meeting is chaired by Amreyev and Jabbarov.
The ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Hungary, and Turkey are also attending the event.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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