First Vice President of EBRD to visit Azerbaijan

First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Head of Client Services Group Jürgen Rigterink will pay a visit to Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

As part of his visit, Rigterink plans to meet with government officials, central bank governors, business leaders, and representatives of international financial organizations in each country.

In Azerbaijan, he will participate in the launch of a public-private partnership in technical and vocational education and retraining, organized by the State Agency for Vocational Education and Avrora Group, aimed at strengthening human resources in the food industry.

"The Caucasus is an important region for the Bank and we intend to provide continued support to the sustainable economic development of the region through our investments, advisory services, and policy engagement," Rigterink said ahead of the visit.

Jürgen Rigterink, First Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Head of Client Services Group, will visit Azerbaijan as part of a week-long trip to the Caucasus. According to the EBRD, the trip will start in Armenia, continue in Georgia, and end in Azerbaijan.

The EBRD Vice President will meet with government officials, central bank governors, business leaders, and representatives of international financial organizations in each country. He will also mark the handover between the outgoing EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen, and her successor, Alkis Vryenios Drakinos.

In Armenia, Rigterink will sign a credit line with a local partner bank to further boost the development of the private sector. In Georgia, he will launch a program with one of the EBRD's key partner banks as part of its commitment to supporting small and medium-size enterprises. In Azerbaijan, he will participate in the launch of the public-private partnership for technical and vocational education and training organized by the State Vocational Education Agency, aimed at strengthening skills capacity in the food production industry.

J.Rigterink has been with the EBRD since 2018 and has since helped deliver record levels of investment volume for the EBRD regions and led the Bank's Covid-19 Solidarity Package. He was also the Bank's Acting President for four months in 2020 in the period between the departure of Sir Suma Chakrabarti, the EBRD's sixth President, and the arrival of his successor, Odile Renaud-Basso.

The EBRD has invested over €10 billion in 680 projects across the region, in both the private and public sectors.