Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia Business Forum: What are prospects for region? - ANALYSIS

By Trend

The Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia business forum will kick off in Baku today.

Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava, Turkish Minister of Trade Mehmet Mus and Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov will attend the opening ceremony.

A memorandum is planned to be signed by the chambers of commerce and industry of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Thus, once again, Baku will become the venue for such a significant event, which will be held at the proper time for three countries.

This forum is intended to further strengthen the trilateral cooperation among Baku, Tbilisi and Ankara, which are participants in such significant projects as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and the Southern Gas Corridor.

The Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia cooperation format has major prospects, given the geographical location of three countries and mega-projects that connect them.

The end of the Karabakh War opens up broader prospects for further cooperation in the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia format.

Azerbaijan has created new realities in the South Caucasus. Presently, there is stability in the region, which increases its investment attractiveness. The conditions are being created for more productive strategic partnerships among the three countries.

Founder and director general of the Institute of Middle East and Caucasus Studies Vasiko Papava commented on this issue.

“The business forum in the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia format is a traditional venue for businessmen of three countries,” Papava told Trend.

“I would like to stress that Turkey and Azerbaijan are one of the main investors in the Georgian economy,” Papava said. “Despite during the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of investments of these countries in the Georgian economy decreased, the total volume of investments was reduced at the global level as well.”

The director general of the Institute added that the holding of this business forum shows that the sides are interested in continuing cooperation in the economic sphere given the current, difficult, global economic pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Papava said that one of the interests in continuing and intensifying cooperation in the economic sphere, despite the decrease in volume of investments in the Georgian economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is the latest agreement reached between Georgia and Turkey.

“This agreement is intended to stimulate investments in the Georgian economy, the creation of joint companies, as well as new jobs,” the director general of the Institute said. “Moreover, after the signing of this agreement, it was announced that the products made in Georgia from the Turkish raw materials will be exported to the EU markets in accordance with the agreement on free trade, which means tax exemption for export to the EU.”

In turn, head of the South Caucasus Political Scientists' Club Ilgar Valizade also expressed his opinion on this issue.

Valizade thinks that holding this business forum is very important from the point of view of developing cooperation.

“The Forum is intended to give an impetus to the development of trade and economic cooperation in a trilateral format, perhaps, investment cooperation as well,” Valizade said. “The total trade turnover among our countries exceeds $6 billion.”

“A major part of the trade turnover accounts for the shares of Azerbaijan and Turkey,” the head of the South Caucasus Political Scientists' Club said. “It is necessary to strive to change the structure of trade turnover and increase the share of foreign direct investments in the economies of our countries.”

Valizade said that the volume of investments that Azerbaijani businessmen made in the Turkish economy over the past decades should be stressed.

“Most of the investments account for the energy sector,” the head of the South Caucasus Political Scientists' Club said. “Moreover, there are great prospects for investing in the non-oil industry. Azerbaijan and Turkey have made a great contribution to the development of Georgia’s service sector, in particular, the tourism sector.”

Valizade said that the prospects are also opening up for investing in the non-oil sector.

“Along with the non-oil industry, Azerbaijan has the potential for making investments in the agricultural sector and others,” the head of the South Caucasus Political Scientists' Club said. “Our country has been actively developing its food and light industries recently.”

The expert thinks that there are many prospects for the interaction in the production of building materials, especially amid the projects to restore the Karabakh region.

“This sector of our industry is an important sphere amid the tripartite cooperation,” Valizade said. “The business accelerates the economic growth. In this case, we hope that this forum will intensify the development of such spheres as the development of joint ventures, active creation of venture enterprises and others.”

The head of the South Caucasus Political Scientists' Club said that moreover, there is an opportunity for cooperation among businessmen of three countries in the markets of third countries to sell their products.

“The Turkish business has a significant advantage,” the expert added. “This country has broad marketing beyond its borders. The Azerbaijani and Georgian businessmen will be able to use the opportunities of the Turkish enterprises, business structures and other institutions.”

The Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia trilateral platform has been existing for a long time and the holding of such a business forum testifies to the similar views of these countries not only in the political but also in the economic sphere.