Mammad Musayev: This forum will combine our ties with our economic partnership
On October 14, Baku hosted the Business Forum as a part of the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council), organized by the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) of the Republic of Azerbaijan with the collaboration of the Ministry of Economy and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO).
Speaking at the forum, ASK President Mammad Musayev said:
“On behalf of the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation, I welcome everyone and I am pleased to see you in Baku.
Today’s event is attended by very valuable businessmen and government officials of the Turkish world. I hope this forum will be a platform for us to work together and achieve success, combining our ties and our economic cooperation.
Dear friends! Today, the economy of Azerbaijan, which is among the most developed countries in the world, successfully durable of the dynamics of development.
It is known that large-scale economic reforms have been carried out in Azerbaijan in recent years as a result of the national leader Heydar Aliyev’s political course that ensures the formation of statehood, new economic system and meets national interests.
The main purpose of these reforms is to diversify the country’s economy, create new jobs, improve the welfare of the population and strengthen the economic power of our country.
As a result of the reforms under the leadership of the President Ilham Aliyev and a special emphasis on the development of the non-oil sector, our non-oil industry increased by 15.7 percent and trade turnover by more than 20 percent in the six months of 2019. Azerbaijan’s non-oil exports rose by 15 percent and agricultural production by 13 percent.
Over the past 16 years GDP increased 3.3 times, non-oil sector 2.8 times, industry 2.6 times, agriculture 1.7 times, trade turnover 3.5 times, non-oil exports 4.2 times. $ 250 billion has been invested in the country’s economy.
The successes, favorable business and investment climate in our country are highly appreciated by international rating agencies. Thus, in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report, Azerbaijan improved its position by 32 points and was ranked 25th out of 190 countries and ranked among the 10 most reformed countries.
All this proves that the reforms were enough successful.
Azerbaijan is signing important projects both in the region and in the Turkic world, which covers a large geography. This shows both the economic power of the state and its value to the Turkic world.
Today, hosting the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States in Baku and holding the Business Forum within the framework of the Summit are significant events for businessmen from all over the Turkic world.
As it is known, on October 3, 2009, our country’s hosting of the 9th Summit of Turkic-speaking countries’ Heads of State held in Nakhchivan opened an important historical page in the socio-political life of the Turkic peoples and that summit was remembered with a number of important decisions.
This opened an important historical page in the socio-political life of the Turkic peoples. That summit was remembered by a number of important decisions.
At the Nakhchivan Summit, an important body, such as the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States was established,. In the following years, relations between the Council and Turkic-speaking countries have been further strengthened. Therefore, each year October 3 is celebrated as the Day of Cooperation of the Turkic Speaking States.
Following the establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, meetings were held in six cities, including Almaty, Bishkek, Gabala, Bodrum, Astana and Cholpon-Ata.
This year’s Summit coincides with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on this anniversary.
Azerbaijan has always attached great importance to close relations and cooperation with Turkic-speaking countries. The common national-cultural history, language and other values contributed to the strengthening of cultural and social-political relations between the Turkic peoples and collectives.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, in his remarks, said: “This is our history, our culture, our roots.”
Sustainable development of the economy of the Turkic Council countries opens new opportunities for the development of bilateral trade and economic relations. One of the important areas of cooperation between these countries is transport and transit. Azerbaijan is in a favorable geostrategic position, at the intersection of the North-South and East-West transport corridors.
Agreements have been signed between the two countries in the areas of rail and air transport, international road transport, and regulation of transit freight.
Azerbaijan is a reliable and stable partner in the field of transit transportation. The exchange of information in this area is important for expanding direct and long-term relationships between transport and logistics structures in the countries.
Today, the Business Council, which pushes the creation of a platform for cooperation between business circles, plays an important role in the development of our relations.
Joint events, business forums, exhibitions are held between the countries, mutual investments are made.
Azerbaijan has invested $ 15.3 billion into the economy of the Turkic-speaking countries. At the same time, more than 3200 Turkic-speaking countries operate in Azerbaijan.
The trade turnover of our country with the member states of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States increased in 2018 by 29% and in January-July this year by 32%. While these figures are encouraging, we believe that the volume of trade between the Turkish-speaking countries does not reflect the real potential of our countries. There is a need for further cooperation between these countries. Today’s Business Forum is of great importance as one of the measures to realize this potential.
Today’s event is also attended by entrepreneurs from many sectors of the economy. After the Business Forum it is planned to hold mutual meetings of businessmen. Therefore, we invite businessmen from the fraternal countries to take advantage of favorable business conditions in Azerbaijan and to establish joint ventures in industrial parks and relations of our country.
We believe that today’s Business Forum will be useful for all of us. The number of cooperation agreements to be signed by our entrepreneurs will increase.
We will use this opportunity as the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation to fulfill the obligations we have to expand cooperation with business entities and business representatives from Turkic-speaking countries.
We will use all our efforts to increase the economic power of the Turkic world, effectively and efficiently.
Good luck and thank you for your attention!”