(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 12. Economic relations
between Azerbaijan and the US, dynamically developing, have entered
a new phase, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in
Azerbaijan (AmCham) Nargiz Nasrullayeva said in an interview with
Trend .
Nasrullayeva reminded that diplomatic relations between the two
countries were established in 1992.
'The relations between Azerbaijan and the US have covered
various spheres over 30 years. The partnership has been
strengthened between the two countries in economy, energy,
security, and other spheres,' she noted. 'At the initial stage of
this partnership, AmCham was founded in 1996, which from the first
days of its activity helped establish economic ties between the
businesses of the two countries.'
'Today, the Chamber represents 19 sectors of the Azerbaijani
economy and being the leading business association in Azerbaijan,
unites more than 250 companies, in which, along with the US and
Azerbaijani capital, multinational corporations are also
represented,' she further said.
'The US constantly supports the development of oil and gas
fields in Azerbaijan and other regions of the Caspian basin. Thus,
Azerbaijan's oil and gas resources were supplied to the European
and other markets, and this makes an important contribution to
economic development and global energy security,' Nasrullayeva also
noted.
Besides, according to the president of AmCham, in the past
years, agricultural forums, bringing together politicians and
agricultural producers from the US and Azerbaijan, were held in
Oklahoma and Illinois.
'The purpose of these events was to establish cooperation
between businessmen operating in the agricultural sector of the
large agricultural states from the US and Azerbaijani businessmen,'
she explained.
The events were also aimed at viewing new methods used in the
agricultural sector to develop livestock, manage medium and large
farms and increase productivity, as well as discussing the issues
of growing grain and legumes by using modern methods, Nasrullayeva
added.
'In recent years, we have also organized a business trip to the
US for representatives of large US investors and multinational
companies operating in Azerbaijan. As part of this visit, the
delegation held meetings with members of Congress and senior
representatives of the US government,' the Chamber's head reminded.
'The main purpose of the visit was to inform the American side
about the current economic situation in Azerbaijan, business
opportunities and favorable conditions for investors.'
'During the meetings, there were discussed positive changes in
Azerbaijan in recent years, which allowed the country to take a
higher position in the Doing Business and Global Competitiveness
ratings,' she also added.
AmCham president highlighted the process of organizing several
events within the 'Caspian Policy Center' on the initiative of an
independent US analytical center, dedicated to the discussion and
development of relations between Azerbaijan and the US in trade,
infrastructure development and energy partnership.
Nasrullayeva noted that during the 2020 second Karabakh war,
AmCham, both independently and jointly with other business
associations, made various statements, unequivocally supporting the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, expressing support for the
president and people of the country, and strongly condemning the
aggressive actions of Armenia against Azerbaijan.
She noted that following the war, AmCham continued to provide
support in this direction, appreciating the establishment of the
YASHAT Fund by President Ilham Aliyev and providing this fund with
some assistance.
'The US companies have always been interested in expanding their
business in Azerbaijan. For example, jointly with the Karabakh
Revival Foundation we organized trips to Aghdam city liberated from
Armenian occupation [in the second Karabakh war], where our
companies were provided with extensive information about potential
conditions for possible investment in this region,' the AmCham's
head emphasized.
'The ongoing restoration work in the liberated territories,
including the reconstruction of energy infrastructure, the vast
potential of water, solar and wind energy in the region, plans to
create a 'green energy zone' in these territories on the
instructions of President Ilham Aliyev and activities generally
carried out in this area are in the focus of special attention of
the members of our organization,' Nasrullayeva stressed.
She pointed out that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the
expansion of international economic ties, and in this regard events
organized with the participation of business circles play an
important role in deepening cooperation between the US and
Azerbaijan.
'We believe that trade missions and other joint activities
contribute to the development of US-Azerbaijani economic
cooperation and increase the interest of potential investors in the
economic opportunities available in our country,' the head of
AmCham also said. 'The fact that over 200 US companies are present
in various sectors of the Azerbaijani economy, including industry,
agriculture, construction, services and other areas, as well as the
recent growth in trade between the two countries compared to
previous years, is indicative of the high level of trade and
economic relations between our country and the US.'
Azerbaijan is interested in developing trade and economic ties
with the US and is taking important steps towards expanding
cooperation, she added.
'The number of US companies in our country and related
indicators could grow even more. At present, there is a favorable
economic environment for this, and attracting foreign investment in
the economy is an important component of the economic development
strategy of our country,' the Chamber's president noted. 'Economic
development and the stable political situation in Azerbaijan have
further increased the interest of foreign countries in long-term
investment in the economy of our country.'
According to her, 2022 will give rise to the development of a
new era of economic relations between the two countries, and we can
also predict growth in investment opportunities and trade
achievements overall.
“We believe that in the near future we'll witness the positive
results of these works and achieve an increase in the role of
American companies in the country's economy,' she noted.
Besides, according to her, after the signing of the 'Contract of
the Century' in 1994, economic ties between Azerbaijan and the US
began to expand even more.
'Our countries are successfully cooperating in the field of
investment, and most of them are in the oil and gas sector. So, in
this sector of the Azerbaijani economy, the volume of US
investments amounted to $12.8 billion, and in general, this figure
reaches $14 billion,' she also said.
'The large-scale projects being implemented in the energy sector
serve as a powerful impetus to the development of the region as a
whole. Today, Azerbaijan is a gas exporter due to the launch of the
Southern Gas Corridor, as well as participation in ensuring the
energy security of Europe,' Nasrullayeva noted. 'It is very
remarkable that the US provides ongoing support for the
implementation of large-scale and strategic projects initiated and
with the participation of Azerbaijan.'
At the same time, she noted that the oil and gas sector of
Azerbaijan has come a long way in its development and continues to
make a special contribution to the development of the country.
'Among the members of our Chamber, there are many companies
operating in the oil sector. Meanwhile, one of the key economic
priorities of our state in the direction of increasing the
efficiency and competitiveness of the economy is to ensure the
development of the non-oil sector,' she emphasized. 'Namely,
therefore, measures to develop the non-oil sector in our country
and cooperate in this area with the government, regularly providing
our recommendations.'
'It's gratifying that some of the recommendations proposed by
our Chamber in this direction have been reflected in strategic
roadmaps and government programs,' she said.
Summing up, the president of AmCham said that in the coming
years it's planned to continue activities in the direction of
developing the business environment and strengthening the dialogue
between the public and private sectors in Azerbaijan.
'Given the fact that the development of the non-oil sector in
Azerbaijan is a priority, we plan to carry out intensive work to
improve it and attract foreign direct investment to our country,'
Nasrullayeva said. 'Along with this, as part of our corporate
social responsibility policy, we plan to implement a number of new
projects in the education field.'
'In the near future, we also intend to implement various
projects to develop small and medium-sized businesses, which are
the leading force in the economy, including women's
entrepreneurship and family businesses,' she concluded.
Tags:
- AmCham Azerbaijan
- Azerbaijan-US relations
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