"The reason for the closed land borders is the Iranian factor"

The term of the special quarantine regime was extended until July 1. According to the decree signed by Prime Minister Ali Asadov, in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and possible complications, the term of the special quarantine regime in Azerbaijan has been extended until 06:00 on July 1, 2023.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Turkey appealed to its citizens studying in Turkey. The appeal says that in connection with the decision to study in Turkey in the second semester remotely, Azerbaijani citizens who are currently studying in this country and their family members (father/mother, husband/wife, children) can enter the Republic of Azerbaijan through land borders until May 10, 2023, by presenting a student ID.

But why aren't land borders open to all citizens?

The economist Rashad Hasanov answers the questions of ASTNA concerning this topic.

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Question: Why is the quarantine extended, the land borders are not opened? What is the purpose? According to a more common version, the government does this for security purposes. How realistic is this version?

Answer: Today, all of these factors in one form or another encourage the government to keep the land borders closed. Each of them can by itself have some influence on decision-making. But the priority is the problem of security. It is possible that under the pretext of security, the borders are closed due to problems that we may not know about. Observing the actions and policies of the Government, I have concluded that it probably does not want open land borders with Iran in the current conditions. And if so, then we have to keep the borders with other countries closed. Because the government does not want a special attitude towards Iran in its policy. As far as I understand, this factor plays a dominant role here. Naturally, other issues have an indirect influence on the adoption of this decision, to one degree or another.

Question: How does the closure of land borders affect the economy of Azerbaijan? Is this influence positive? If this influence is negative, then why does the government keep them locked up so stubbornly?

Answer: Naturally, the economic consequences of keeping land borders closed are quite ambiguous. First of all, it has an impact on the living conditions of people living in border areas. Since over a million people living in border areas traded across land borders. In particular, the southern region with Iran, the western with Georgia, and the northern with Russia. The share of funds received from this activity in the incomes of the population of these regions was significant. For more than two years, almost three years, these borders have been closed, which indirectly significantly reduces the incomes of these social groups. First of all, this point should be considered. But at the same time, the vast majority of the country's population somehow indirectly benefited from land borders. From the point of view of family budget management. Thus, these people could manage their family budget more efficiently with limited resources, bringing certain goods from the Georgian market at a lower price, especially equipment needed for car repairs, machinery, or services, as well as receiving medical services or everyday goods from the Iranian market.

Question: The tourist season is coming. The Azerbaijani government considers tourism one of the priority areas. Tourists arrive in Azerbaijan more often by air than through land borders. Maybe the government does not open land borders in order to prevent the flow of local tourists to neighboring countries, as well as the outflow of funds? So that local tourists bring income to local facilities, and the flow of currency to foreign countries stopped. Is it possible?

Answer: It is no coincidence that about 70% of those leaving Azerbaijan abroad used land borders. Of the 100 tourists arriving in the country before the pandemic, about 60 used the land border. Tourists using the land border were mostly of Russian, Iranian and Georgian origin. Since these opportunities are currently limited, there is a significant reduction in the number of people arriving in Azerbaijan from these countries. The market of Georgia and Iran, in particular, reacts to this very seriously. Of the 100 tourists who arrived in Azerbaijan from Georgia before the pandemic, about 93 used the land border exclusively in different years. These markets are markets with low purchasing power, and their opportunities to travel to Azerbaijan have deteriorated significantly, especially in conditions when air transport prices have not been optimized and passenger transportation services by budget air transport have not been established. That is, if before the pandemic, Georgian tourists coming to Azerbaijan spent an average of $300, today $ 300 dollars have to be spent only on air transportation. This, of course, limits the possibility of their choosing Azerbaijan. This eventually manifests itself in numbers. Azerbaijan has suffered serious losses in this direction today. Naturally, this at the same time restricts the citizens of Azerbaijan in choosing a place of rest. That is, the traditional Azerbaijani tourist is also not a wealthy tourist, his purchasing power is low, and the opportunity to use the tourist services of other countries in accordance with his tastes, using expensive air transport services, is limited by the current conditions.

Question: What do you suggest?

Answer: The sentence is essentially very simple. Security issues should be resolved by the country's security agencies. The economy should be freed from restrictions. In particular, the land borders should be opened. Because our economy is already closed. Of a number of fundamental directions, only the open land border, in a certain sense, brought additional mobility and revitalization to this market through cross-border trade in one form or another. Now this is also limited. The World Health Organization also reports that the pandemic-related process has already been completed. In these circumstances, the Government should, by taking security measures, open the borders as soon as possible. Closing borders from the point of view of ensuring security is not a solution for the long term.