(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 29. The UK considers
energy, infrastructure, agriculture, ICT, healthcare, as well as
financial and professional services, as the most promising fields
of cooperation with Azerbaijan, Kenan Poleo, HM Trade Commissioner
for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, told trend in an exclusive interview.
'We have identified six sectors of the economy that we want to
help grow through our joint intergovernmental commission,' Poleo
said.
According to the trade commissioner, the total trade in goods
and services between the UK and Azerbaijan from April 2021 through
March 2022 amounted to 1.1 billion pounds.
He noted that the main exports from the UK to Azerbaijan include
technology, engineering equipment and oil machinery, and
services.
'Over thirty years of bilateral relations, the UK has been the
single largest foreign direct investor in Azerbaijan. In 2021, we
agreed with President Ilham Aliyev that our focus going forward
will be supporting Azerbaijan's economic diversification,' he
said.
Additionally, the UK is the first international partner to
support the work of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action
(ANAMA), clearing land mines in Azerbaijan's liberated territories.
It is one of the most important programs that the UK Government is
supporting in Azerbaijan at the moment, Poleo added.
Another priority in the Azerbaijani-UK cooperation is
renewables, and, as the trade commissioner said, the UK is glad to
see BP, its multinational oil and gas company, expanding into
Azerbaijan's renewable energy sector.
'In this regard, we welcome the agreement on the implementation
of a 240 MW solar power plant project in Azerbaijan's Jabrayil
district, and look forward to its finalization,' he said.
As Poleo noted, over the thirty years of bilateral relations,
the UK has been the single largest foreign direct investor in
Azerbaijan, while BP alone has invested $84 billion in the
Azerbaijani economy.
'I also hope the Government will make the best use of the
masterplan developed by BP, which includes recommendations and
proposals for decarbonization,' Poleo added.
The trade commissioner believes that Azerbaijan has great
renewable energy potential, and this is the area where the
UK-Azerbaijan energy cooperation should be expanded sooner.
'There are already over 40 British companies with clean energy
capability on the ground. They know the market and have the
expertise to help Azerbaijan deliver its renewable energy targets.
We have hosted our first energy transition conference, where we
invited leading companies from the UK to speak about clean growth,
offshore wind and decarbonization. This clearly shows UK companies
are interested in the Azerbaijani market and are ready to provide
their products and services whenever and wherever needed,' he
noted.
Moreover, the UK is ready to share its experience in offshore
wind energy deployment with Azerbaijan, Poleo said.
'As a country with one of the largest installed capacities of
offshore wind in the world and the largest pipeline of projects in
Europe, we stand ready to share the UK experience of developing the
industry with Azerbaijan,' he noted.
He went on to add that the UK has also helped fund the offshore
wind roadmap for Azerbaijan which was launched jointly by the World
Bank and IFC in June this year.
'We organized a visit to the world's largest grid-connected
floating offshore wind farm in Kincardine for the Azerbaijani
delegation led by Minister Shahbazov later that month within the
fifth session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission between the
UK and Azerbaijan. The UK is committed to achieving net zero
emissions by 2050 which means that we have enhanced our
capabilities across a wide range of renewable energy technologies.
Through our government-to-government energy transition working
group and MoU we are actively sharing the UK's experience to help
Azerbaijan develop a thriving clean energy sector, too,' he
said.
Speaking further, Poleo noted that cooperation with Azerbaijan,
as well as Central Asia, is a high priority for the UK.
'I oversee trade work across 14 countries across Eastern Europe
and Central Asia. Recent data shows a 44 billion pounds trading
relationship between the UK and these 14 countries. Central Asia is
a key part of our success. That's why we've recently invested more
trade resources into Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan where think there is
scope to do even more,' he said.
As the trade commissioner noted, increasing the capacity of the
Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), which is one of
the most important transport routes for Azerbaijan and Central
Asia, is a priority for the UK government for diversifying supply
routes from East to West.
According to the trade commissioner, the TITR, also known as the
Middle Corridor, is important for the region's economy and its
importance after the Russia-Ukraine war started has increased even
further.
'It can become an alternative or supplementary transit route for
exports from China to Europe. The countries of the region started
to work seriously on the increase of the potential for TITR. We
understand that there is a need for investment to develop capacity
and tackle various administrative and technical bottlenecks along
the route, such as integrating document exchange and customs
systems of the route countries, increasing vessel capacity to name
a few,' he said.
Poleo pointed out that this requires joint efforts of the
Trans-Caspian route countries, and the UK is ready to provide the
required support whether it is related to digitization or capacity
building for the ports, helping secure financing, engaging the
private sector, or helping optimize railways operations.
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