Energy Conference in Washington, DC

"Combining the Caucasus to the world: railroads and pipelines", was the theme of the conference organized yesterday in Washington, DC by the Kenan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.

The moderators of the conference were the Director of the Kenan Institute, William Pomerantz, and expert of the "Heritage" Foundation, Ariel Cohen.  This information was read from a press release from the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States.

In his speech, Cohen noted the importance of energy resources in the Caspian region to Europe's energy security.

The assistant of the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jonathan Elkind, focused on the difficulties in the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. He called the project a successful example of regional cooperation. Elkind also noted the importance of the "Southern Gas Corridor".

The advisor of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Washington, Nargis Qurbanova, focused attention on the transformation of Azerbaijan into a regional transit network.  She acknowledged a growing role of Azerbaijan in the region in context to the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan.

The conference participants noted the regional and global importance of construction projects such as the international port in the Alat, modernization of the international airport in Baku, and the construction of the railway line Baku-Tbilisi-Kars.

Head of the Caucasus Department of the U.S. Department of  State, Justin Friedman, noted that the U.S. administration considers the project "Southern Gas Corridor" one of the prior issues.

Senior Director for International Relations of BP, Greg Sanders, told about the importance of the Trans gas pipeline project (TANAP) and Azerbaijani gas for ensuring Europe's energy needs.

Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to NATO, Khazar Ibrahim, said that the implementation of regional and global energy and transport projects creates a unique opportunity to resolve conflicts in the  zone of South Caucasus.—06D-