Mikayil Jabbarov names main advantage of Azerbaijan for investors

The key factor in Azerbaijan's investment attractiveness, alongside political and macroeconomic stability, as well as its strategic geographic location in the region, is the country's sustainable and reliable financial system, Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said in response to a question from Report news agency at the closing press conference of the 51st of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Annual Meetings in Baku.

The minister noted that within the framework of the annual meetings, a session titled "Investment Prospects of Azerbaijan" was organized, where the country's economic and investment opportunities were presented.

"These opportunities are reflected in our documents related to national economic priorities. As is known, our main focus is on stimulating economic growth and the development of the non-oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan, which over the past five to six years has become a real engine of growth.

Among the specific directions, opportunities, and priorities are non-oil manufacturing, the mining industry and extraction of critically important raw materials, the agricultural sector, as well as the processing of agricultural products. Of course, this includes transport and logistics, taking into account both the country"s natural geographic location and our consistent policy of further investment in the development of transport infrastructure," Mr. Jabbarov emphasized.

The minister also drew attention to the tourism sector, noting that the very holding of this event clearly demonstrated and showcased the country"s tourism potential.

"It should also be noted that renewable energy sources, financial services, and digital transformation of the economy continue to remain cross-cutting (horizontal) directions. In my view, Azerbaijan's main investment attractiveness-apart from political and macroeconomic stability and its strategic geographic location in the region-lies in a sustainable and reliable financial system. This is reflected in the extremely low level of public debt, a very significant and stable volume of foreign exchange reserves, as well as recognition of the country's investment attractiveness by international rating agencies. All this information was presented to participants, investors, and international financial institutions.

I believe that the private sector, especially Azerbaijani companies, did an excellent job in presenting these opportunities," the minister said.