Azerbaijan, Asian Development Bank discuss deepening economic partnership

Azerbaijan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have discussed ways to further strengthen their partnership across several sectors of the economy, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry of Finance.

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Finance, Sahil Babayev, received a delegation led by Ms. Rachel Thompson, the Executive Director representing Azerbaijan on the ADB Board of Directors.

During the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction with the existing cooperation, noting that it has significantly contributed to Azerbaijan’s socio-economic development through loans, grants, and technical assistance.

The discussion focused on the ADB’s 2025–2029 Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Azerbaijan. The strategy outlines a series of comprehensive measures aimed at diversifying the economy, strengthening resilience, and ensuring inclusive growth.

Minister Babayev highlighted Azerbaijan’s sustainable development and macroeconomic stability, emphasizing successful diversification in agriculture, information and communication technologies, industrial production, logistics, and green energy. He also underscored ADB’s support for financing projects under the State Program for Improving Water Supply, Wastewater Management, and Stormwater Systems in Baku and the Absheron Peninsula for 2025–2034, the expansion of Baku Metro lines, and modernization of the country’s railway infrastructure.

Ms. Thompson, in turn, praised the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the ADB and expressed confidence that the partnership would be further strengthened in the coming years.