(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Mazahir Afandiyev
Following Azerbaijan's return to state Sovereignty in 1991,
there was a severe crisis that affected every aspect of our
country. The First Karabakh War caused significant losses for
Azerbaijan. The country descended into a major humanitarian crisis
as a result of the destruction of its economic potential, the
halting of progress, and the increasing number of refugees and
internally displaced people.
The process of state construction in Azerbaijan began in 1993
with the repeated return of National Leader Heydar Aliyev to the
helm of the country at the adamant request of the Azerbaijani
people.
Following the international community's acknowledgement of
Azerbaijan's independence at the close of the 20th century, our
country focused on safeguarding not only the state's interests but
also those of all parties involved by managing and allocating
fairly natural resources of the Azerbaijani people.
The interests of all parties in the continued growth of the
globe and the region were safeguarded by the Contract of the
Century, which was signed on September 20, 1994, thanks to the
leadership and unceasing efforts of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev and
is still in effect today. At the same time, the Contract's
implementation allowed the young Republic of Azerbaijan to gain
international recognition, expand its authority, and establish
itself as a trustworthy partner. One of the keystones of our
freedom, the oil contract played a significant role in supporting
both the growth of our economy and our triumph in the Second
Garabagh-Patriotic War.
It should be noted that 13 major oil companies of the USA, Great
Britain, Russia, Turkey, Norway, Japan and Saudi Arabia took part
in signing the contract with the Republic of Azerbaijan: Amoco, BP,
McDermott, UNOCAL, Lukoil, Statoil, Exxon, Turkish Petrols,
Pennzoil, ITOCHU, Ramco, and Delta.
It is no accident that Azerbaijan, which flawlessly fulfilled
the Contract of the Century signed in 1994, has the confidence of
all participating international consortiums as well as partner
states, and is currently regarded as the leading state in the
region.
In general, since 2003, President Ilham Aliyev has declared
energy policy a priority in Azerbaijan's multi-vector foreign
policy and uses it as the main tool to ensure Azerbaijan's
integrity, peace, stability, and secure sustainable development in
the region. The world's states are becoming more interested in
Azerbaijan as a result of the significant projects which completed
over the past 20 years in connection with logistic corridors
between North and South and West and East. Despite changes in the
political landscape of the world, Azerbaijan continues to be
committed to energy policy and rising to new challenges.
Year after year, Azerbaijan has been effectively managing its
oil contracts and growing its gas production. Future project
planning and execution also heavily depend on the discovery of
alternative energy sources, which is one of the challenges of the
fourth industrial revolution, and the enhancement of the green
agenda, which is a crucial component of Azerbaijan's energy
policy.
We can declare with pride that Azerbaijan, which signed the
"Contract of the Century" in 1994 and is known throughout the globe
as a dependable producer of gas and oil, is effectively changing
its energy strategy to one of "green" energy and a "green"
economy.
Particularly, following the Second Karabakh-Patriotic War,
Azerbaijan launched several megaprojects aimed at promoting the
"green" economy and producing "green" energy, thus actively
contributing to global energy security. From this vantage point,
friendly states have a strong desire to strengthen their current
relationships in the area of exporting domestically produced
alternative energy in addition to oil and gas.
These elements served as Azerbaijan's primary tools for
maintaining security, peace, and calm in the South Caucasus both
during and after the Second Karabakh-Patriotic War. Therefore, the
fact that all countries decided to hold the 29th session of the
Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (COP29) in our country this year is a clear indication of
the importance placed on our energy policy in general as well as
the energy projects, the basis of which was laid by the Great
Leader and which we have successfully implemented around the
world.
The author is a member of the Milli Majlis of the
Republic of Azerbaijan
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