Processing Central Asian raw materials may add up to $15B annually to Azerbaijan's GDP, Apollo executive says

The creation of processing infrastructure for raw materials from Central Asian countries could contribute between $10 billion and $15 billion per year to Azerbaijan's GDP, Managing Director for Credit and Principal Structured Finance at Apollo Jonathan Barr said at the Second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum (AIIF 2026), Report informs.

"Developing infrastructure for processing raw material resources supplied from Central Asian states can generate an annual increase in Azerbaijan's GDP ranging from $10 billion to $15 billion, and potentially more," Barr emphasized.

He noted that limiting the country's role strictly to a transit function and collecting transit fees would not yield maximum economic returns.

"If Azerbaijan views itself solely as a transit corridor, the overall impact will be confined to transit fees. However, processing raw materials from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan directly on Azerbaijani territory - in Baku or adjacent regions - and subsequently exporting finished products to Western markets will create significant added value. In terms of scale and transformative impact on the economy, this can be compared to the development of gas fields three decades ago," Barr pointed out.

The Apollo representative highlighted the company's interest in participating in and providing long-term financing for such infrastructure initiatives.

"The majority of our capital is derived from insurance balance sheet funds, which is why we target long-term investments with a 20- to 30-year horizon rather than short-term investments aimed at quick profit-taking. Processing infrastructure fully aligns with this strategy, and we stand ready to support the implementation of such projects," he stated.