European Union to Finance Institutional Development of Azerbaijan
Baku hosted a conference of the EU-funded project "Support to the activities in the field of institution-building in Azerbaijan> (SIBA).
According to the EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Malena Mard, they are interested in the improvement of local governance in Azerbaijan at escalating globalization. The High Representative believes the government is interested in the implementation of twinning-projects in the state structures, which is an indicator of the implementation of legal and administrative reform along with economic reforms aimed at ensuring the diversification of this segment.
According to official figures, Azerbaijan is the leader in the number of EU twinning projects and EU is the main partner in the implementation of major energy projects. To this day, with the support of the EU 43 such projects have been initiated in Azerbaijan, 25 of which are completed, 9 are at the execution stage and 9 are at the design stage. In addition, within the framework of technical assistance projects and grants, the international institution has allocated 582 million Euros to Baku. Azerbaijan is also a leader in the region in the number of implemented twinning projects.
According to the Deputy Minister of Economy Sahil Babayev, the European Union - the main trading partner of Azerbaijan - on the mutual trade turnover in 2015 was at the level of $ 9.7 billion (47% of the total turnover of the country). By May 1, the figure was about $ 2 billion (41% of export-import operations). In addition, since 2006 the volume of investments from the EU to the local fixed assets amounted to 45.6% of all financial investments, and direct investments in the non-oil sector accounted for about 35%.
Azerbaijan has also invested in European Union countries. The lead on this indicator belongs to France, Great Britain and Switzerland.
The sides noted the desire to continue and expand their cooperation. --17D-
Economics
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Azerbaijan's financial standing continues to strengthen as the country's foreign currency reserves have surged to $71 billion as of January 1, 2025, according to the Ministry of Finance. This figure, which includes reserves held by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), far exceeds the nation's external debt, which stands at a fraction of its reserves, specifically nearly 14 times less. This robust reserve position reflects Azerbaijan's fiscal stability and the government’s strategic economic management.
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According to operational data from the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan, in January 2025, the country produced 2.3 million tons of oil, including condensate, and 3.9 billion cubic meters of gas.
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The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has opened a representative office in Albania and is set to launch a specific project this year, the Albanian company "Albgaz" announced.
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"Azerbaijan is currently among 54 middle-income countries," said Shahmar Movsumov, head of the Economic Affairs and Innovative Development Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, during the presentation of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2024 in Baku on February 10.
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