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New strategy for EBRD in Azerbaijan
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) today announced the approval of a new two-year strategy for Azerbaijan that focuses on enhancing the country's private sector development.
"The performance of Azerbaijan in achieving macroeconomic stability and the resumption of growth in recent years has been remarkable," said Hildegard Gacek, the EBRD's Director for the Caucasus, Belarus and Moldova. "The EBRD's new strategy aims at assisting Azerbaijan to move forward with fundamental structural reforms."
Thomas Moser, Head of the EBRD's Office in Baku, added: "The EBRD's medium-term objective is to expand its activities in Azerbaijan, in particular through an increasing number of private sector investments. In this context the EBRD plans to engage with the Government in a constructive policy dialogue on measures to improve the investment climate in Azerbaijan."
The EBRD will continue to assist Azerbaijan in the realisation of its economic growth potential by investing, with due regard to the environment and corporate governance standards, in the oil and gas sector. At the same time, the Bank will, however, pay special attention to a greater diversification and long-term sustainability of Azerbaijan's economy and hereby focus on five main areas:
the promotion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises through the provision of financing, work on the investment climate, and indirectly through its investments in infrastructure projects, financial sector and oil and gas projects;
building a financial sector that commands the confidence of the population and efficiently intermediates between savers and investors;
supporting Azerbaijan in the creation of a market-based infrastructure through the promotion of commercialisation, the strengthening of the institutional and regulatory framework and enhancing the level of competition through catalysing private sector involvement;
encouraging the acceleration of privatisation of medium and large enterprises and directly contributing to the privatisation process through the provision of technical assistance and selected investments;
supporting Azerbaijan in removing constraints to private sector development through an active policy dialogue with the Government based on the Bank's considerable investment experience in Azerbaijan.
While implementing this strategy, the EBRD aims to closely coordinate its work with other international and bilateral institutions to ensure a complementary approach to the international assistance for the transition process in Azerbaijan. Under the Bank's progressive new public information policy, a verbatim text of the strategy will be posted shortly on the EBRD Web site.
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