IV Tashkent International Investment Forum Spotlights Azerbaijan's Economic Dev't Indicators

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 10. Azerbaijan's Prime Minister Ali Asadov participated in the IV Tashkent International Investment Forum during his official visit to Uzbekistan, the Cabinet of Ministers told Trend .

Opening the forum, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev presented an overview of his country's economic and investment potential.

In his speech, PM Asadov detailed Azerbaijan's economic development indicators and the favorable investment climate in the country. He noted that the economy has shown robust growth of 4.1 percent in 2024, with the non-oil and gas sector expanding at an even faster pace, by 6.2 percent. He emphasized that Azerbaijan's external debt is less than seven percent of its GDP, while financial reserves exceed the external debt by 14 times.

Asadov outlined the government's continuous efforts to create an attractive investment environment, including reducing the tax burden, removing administrative barriers, improving the legislative framework, protecting investors' rights and interests, and ensuring property rights.

He highlighted the operation of seven specialized industrial parks in various production sectors and the unique conditions offered by the Alat Free Economic Zone for investors.

“The favorable investment environment created opens broad prospects for foreign investors as well. As a result, over the past 20 years, more than $338 billion have been invested in our economy, half of which are direct foreign investments,” Asadov said.

The prime minister also pointed out that the new realities following the liberation of Azerbaijani territories have created excellent opportunities for investment cooperation. Large-scale restoration and reconstruction works are currently underway in these areas.

Gratitude was expressed to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan for supporting the construction of a secondary school named after Mirza Ulugbek and a Children's Creativity Center named after Kurmangazy in the city of Fuzuli.

Asadov mentioned the effective cooperation through the Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Investment Fund, with a charter capital of $500 million, noting that several promising projects across various sectors are being considered under the fund.

He underlined alternative energy as another promising area of collaboration, stating that Azerbaijan has an extensive agenda in this field and is implementing several large projects in partnership with leading global companies.

Highlighting Azerbaijan's active role as a“green energy” supplier to Europe, Asadov said the country is working together with Georgia, Romania, and Hungary on a project to create a green energy corridor to Europe through the Black Sea seabed.

In addition, within the framework of COP29, the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan signed an agreement that opens broad possibilities for exporting green energy to Europe via the Caspian Sea-Black Sea route.

The forum concluded with confidence that the Tashkent International Investment Forum will continue to serve as an important platform for strengthening investment cooperation.

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