President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has with the President of the Federation of Austrian Industries, Georg Kapsch, and executives of large companies in Vienna.
The President of the Federation of Austrian Industries, Georg Kapsch, said:
-Mr. President!
Mr. Ambassador, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the opportunity to speak directly to you. In fact, we were supposed to meet with you at the Federation of Austrian Industries, but due to your busy schedule, we are meeting here at the Imperial hotel.
We are very pleased that you are meeting with usduring your first official visit to Austria. By the size of the territory, our countries are very similar, but in terms of natural resources Azerbaijan has a tangible advantage. Over the last year, the turnover has grown three times, which gives you further advantage. Now your exports to Austria exceed our exports to Azerbaijan. And we are happy to see an improvement of the situation. Our companies are interested in investing in Eastern Europe and the countries located further east. I am sure that your visit to Vienna will further deepen our relations.
As you know, Europe is highly dependent on natural resources. There are no vast natural resources here, especially in Austria. So we have high hopes for supplies from Azerbaijan. Therefore, we hope that you will support some of the pipelines, in particular "Nabucco". You know yourself how important it is for us. We are very impressed with the fact that you have a small public debt - it is under 12 per cent. Our national debt exceeds 70 percent. This opens up opportunities and new horizons for investment, infrastructure and economic projectsfor you. This is a prerequisite for the industry. If necessary, we will support you. I think that we have historical ties with eastern countries. I believe that we know each other's mentality very well. Therefore, as compared to other countries of Western Europe, we are closer to each other.
And this gives us a great advantage. Thank you very much.
You have another advantage - your country is at the crossroads of transport routes. You are at the center of the transport network connecting the West with the East. This is a wonderful place in terms of traffic as well.
I express my deep gratitude to you for giving us this opportunity to come here. We are honored that you keep in touch with the Federation of Austrian Industries.
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Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:
- Thank you. Thank you very much. I am very glad to see you. Thank you for coming here to the hotel. As you have pointed out, I have a very busy schedule. Yesterday I had a lot of meetings and they were very important and fruitful. Today I carry on with my program. Yesterday, President Fisher and I participated in the Austrian-Azerbaijani business forum. It was the second such forum in less than two years. The first forum was held during the visit of President Fischer to Baku in 2011.
At the same time, we support even greater activity of the Azerbaijani and Austrian business community in the area of bilateral economic cooperation. Because having such excellent political relations we should take this opportunity to expand our economic cooperation.
Yesterday, President Fischer and I signed the Declaration of friendship and partnership. The name of the declaration speaks for itself. It is actually a friendship and a partnership. I fully agree with your words. There is a lot in common between our two countries and our people strive to know each other better. Thanks to the participation of Austrian companies in very important projects in Azerbaijan,a very positive public opinion about Austria, your people and, of course, the business communityhas developed in our country. Business circles are implementing not only significant projectsfor the development of infrastructure, but also create new architectural works of Baku. The new buildings in our capital attract attention because they are built with taste, are beautiful and, of course, have functional parameters.
You have mentioned the main directions of our economic development in the past. That was the energy sector. And this is natural. For a country that had just gained independence, it was the main road in terms of attracting investment. We have coped with this task. Currently, we are attracting investment to the non-oil sector. This is a priority. In the energy sector we have implemented practically all of our strategic projects.
We have opened a corridor for the Azerbaijani oil to flow to international markets and obtained access to regional gas markets. Currently, we are also working on the Southern Gas Corridor, which was initiated by Azerbaijan. To implement the Southern Gas Corridor, we have taken many practical steps and assumed financial commitments. For Europe, this project will mean supplies and for us access to a new, large, very reliable, predictable and legally regulated market. This is a winning option for Europe and Azerbaijan in all respects. Of course, we are working with Austria both at the government level and at the level of companies. I am confident that we will continue our fruitful cooperation. You have correctly noted that Azerbaijan has a favorable geographical location. But without the support of the transport infrastructure and logistics this does not really mean much. We are investing a lot in establishing a transport hub in Baku. As for air transport and railways, at the present time Azerbaijan plays an important role in regional cooperation and in the region. As regards our support mission in Afghanistan, we are playing one of the most important roles in providing direct and easy access to Afghanistan and back. We are currently in the final phase of a large infrastructure project that envisages a rail link between Europe and Asia. We hope that by the end of this year we will fully complete the project and revive the historic Silk Road. The distance between China on the one hand and Europe on the other will become even shorter. Naturally, Azerbaijan will benefit from this situation. Wehaveinvestedalotinthisproject.
At present, our main goal is diversification. As you have pointed out, there is a very good financial situation. Our foreign debt is even less than you specified. The foreign debt accounts for 7 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Foreign exchange reserves are seven to eight times higher than the foreign debt. In other words, we can repay our foreign debt in a matter of one day and no-one will ever find out. But a certain portion of these funds is provided for the future and we need to use that. So we still borrow some funds.
But at the same time, we have already become a lender. For example, in January of this year we signed an agreement with the International Finance Corporation on the allocation of a loan of $150 million for various projects. In short, the financial situation, the national currency and the investment climate are stable. By the volume of direct foreign investment per capita, we are in first place in the former Soviet Union. Of course, most of these investments have been channeled in the oil and gas sector. But we are currently developing other industries, including tourism and the service sector.
Austrian companies are helping us with the development of our infrastructure. In other words, we are pleased with the level of our cooperation so far. But at the present time, this cooperation is limited to contracting obligations. Austrian companies are involved mainly in major projects financed from the state budget and the private sector. I want to see more Austrian companies as investors, as the investment environment is very favorable.
There are also good opportunities. There are new projects in construction, tourism and heavy industry. We have created a new mechanism for attracting investment to the heavy industry. I am talking about the creation of technology parks. The information and communication technologies are rapidly developing. The companies investing a lot will enjoy preferential tax treatment.
Azerbaijan is developing the space industry. In February of this year, we launched our first satellite.
There is great potential in agriculture. Major investment is made in this sector from Europe. This is also very beneficial. It is very good both for the country and for investors. In other words, we have created a win-win situation from all points of view. Local and foreign investors are taking advantage of these opportunities. And so is the government.
Last year Azerbaijan received investment to the tune of $22 billion. For our country this is a fairly large amount. Figures for the last five years have been similar. Much has been done. As you know, there are representatives of companies operating and planning to work in Azerbaijan here. I think that this format can be very effective for the consideration of the work done and the opportunities available.
There are members of the delegation who are responsible for different areas here. I think that they will hold fruitful discussions. Thank you very much for the meeting.
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Then the heads of leading companies engaged in various sectors of the Austrian economy informed the President about the companies they represent. They spoke highly about the development processes ongoing in Azerbaijan. Company executives also expressed their interest in cooperating with Azerbaijan in the fields of high technology, infrastructure, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, energy, tourism, information and communication technology, other spheres and identifying new areas of interaction.
The sides also exchanged views on the current state and prospects for cooperation.
