Economic stability in the Caspian was discussed in Moscow

Baku/08.06.21/Turan:  Before the Second Caspian Economic Forum, to be held on August 11-12, 2021, the “President-Hotel” in Moscow hosted an international roundtable on June 7 on the topic “Russian and Azerbaijani projects - drivers of economic development of the Caspian region. Towards an Economic Forum”. The event was organized by the North-South political science center in cooperation with the Baku Network Expert Council.

The final press release of the organizers, noted that experts, as well as political and public figures of Russia and Azerbaijan also made presentations. The head of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Astrakhan Region Kazbek Khadikov and the Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov addressed the participants of the event through a video bridge.

Speakers and participants discussed economic cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan as an urgent agenda for the Caspian region, resource logistics potential of the North-South corridor, current risks and challenges.

Member of the Milli Mejlis (parliament) of Azerbaijan Rasim Musabekov in his speech focused primarily on security issues.

“If there is no security, there is no legal basis for cooperation, it is impossible to talk about some long-term projects in the field of economic cooperation,” he stated.

According to the speaker, cooperation in the Caspian Sea is largely based on the political interaction of three players - Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The dialogue is maintained in a continuous mode at all levels, and this is an important component of regional security, on which the economic cooperation of all Caspian states directly depends.

The main threats to security in the region, according to Musabekov, are international terrorism, drug trafficking, man-made disasters - their prevention and relief of the consequences. Also important are environmental issues related to the Caspian Sea, which must be reliably protected.

In addition, Musabekov expressed his conviction that duplicate logistics channels should be created - railways, oil and gas pipelines, so that in case of unforeseen situations, the work would continue.

Director of the Center for Geopolitical Expertise Valery Korovin, in his report on the topic "Actual security problems of the Caspian region - new risks and challenges", developed the theses voiced by Rasim Musabekov.

“I would like to develop some aspects of security and those new challenges that the Caspian region may face in the near future. Mr. Musabekov quite justifiably listed these challenges, including international terrorism, drug trafficking, religious extremism, and nationalist sentiments that are fueled in the region,” the speaker noted.

Korovin noted, all these ailments and challenges to the security of the region do not arise out of nowhere - by themselves, all of a sudden, but have a man-made origin and, perhaps, these problems would not exist if certain geopolitical centers were not engaged in heating and feeding them,  and they would not invest in them both financially and politically.

According to Korovin, attempts to destabilize the situation on the part of Western networks, non-profit organizations sponsored by a number of odious figures, such as George Soros, do not stop in other states of the region. This, according to the speaker, is done with the aim of placing these countries under the geopolitical control of the West.

“Today the territory around the Caspian Sea is still stable only because the states of the Caspian region are still focused on Eurasian geopolitics, in the center of which Russia is, participate in integration associations initiated by Russia, and try to develop the cooperation that Russia offers. At the same time, all these states, including Azerbaijan, repeatedly repulse attacks by Western NGOs that are trying to undermine stability on their territory," Valery Korovin explained, specifying that Russia is interested in maintaining peace and stability, as well as developing economic and infrastructure projects in the Caspian region and makes tremendous efforts to pacify emerging conflicts.

According to Korovin, “our counterparts” are not at all interested in the implementation of numerous projects in the Caspian region, since the West enters this or that region precisely through destabilization - through the introduction of social unrest, chaos, using them as an excuse to enter one or another region.

“If  the talk is about the post-Soviet space in general and the Caspian region in particular, then only Russia, more than anyone interested in the world, is today the main and only guarantor of stability and security. Therefore, all economically discussed projects can be destroyed at one moment in case of Western intervention and will be developed with the participation of Russia, which is interested in peace and stability in the Caspian region,” the speaker is convinced.

Summing up, the speaker urged to be aware that, given the amount of funding for Western expert centers operating around the world, any pro-Western rhetoric in the states of the region is man-made.

“This rhetoric should be treated very carefully and carefully disavowed. Otherwise, we will face such a colossal challenge and problems that hardly anyone will be able to cope with them alone. We are discussing important initiatives, but without a Eurasian geopolitical line and a guarantee from Russia, all these wonderful projects are in question,” he stated.

The head of the Eurasian Economic Club of the International “Eurasian Movement” Mikhail Anisimov made a presentation on “Digital tools as a means of accelerating the integration of small and medium-sized businesses of the Caspian region into international trade”.

“At the moment, in the Caspian region, in general, the main political problems have been resolved, transport routes have been established, and port infrastructure has been built. It remains to fill the created resources with goods and cargo. My idea is to create an integration project - a digital platform for trade of small and medium-sized businesses within the Caspian region,” he said, adding that, in his opinion, the main task is not to redistribute existing traffic flows from one route to another, but to create new goods. The existing channels, created with such difficulty, should be filled with new products.

This, in particular, will allow, according to Anisimov, to produce more goods in Azerbaijan that will be consumed in Russia. At the same time, Russia could supply not only oil and grain to the countries of the region, but Iranian products would go to the Russian market.

“As you know, the main producers of products for mass consumption in the region are small and medium-sized businesses. Large state corporations are engaged in the supply of raw materials and this issue has been resolved - gas pipelines have been built, etc. At the same time, the port infrastructure is loaded only by 50%. In my opinion, the creation of a Caspian digital platform will just be one of those tools that will allow filling these goods with cargo. My company has developed a prototype of such a platform. This idea needs to be conveyed to the highest level, because this is an integration solution that can be dealt with without being distracted from other tasks," he said, drawing attention to the fact that now the whole world is moving to digital platforms. ...

According to Anisimov, if the countries of the Caspian region are not engaged in the implementation of such solutions, they will lag behind the rest of the world, and there will simply be nothing to transport through the created channels. “It will be just a disaster,” he stated.

The speaker also noted that he would like not Chinese and Indian goods to be transported along the existing routes, but manufactured in the CIS countries.

“It seems to me that the time has come to create such an international platform, and the base of the Caspian region is ideal for a start, because there is understanding, problems, contradictions have been resolved and there is interest, including Iran, which has nowhere to supply its goods. At the same time, the Russian market is the largest in the region and may well become a driver of imports from the countries of the region - Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey to Russia, thus replacing Chinese, Korean and European goods,” he believes.

In Iran, according to Anisimov, industry is actively developing, but Russia hardly knows about it, the project he proposed can also solve the problem of poor awareness.

The roundtable “Russian and Azerbaijani projects - the driver of the economic development of the Caspian region" was held on the eve of the Second Caspian Economic Forum, which will be held on August 11-12, 2021. — 0—