G20 interested in Azerbaijan’s view

Rasim Musabekov, political scientist, member of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Foreign Relations and Inter-parliamentary Relations Committee

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev informed yesterday that Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will attend a meeting of foreign ministers of G20 countries in Mexico. This year’s forum is expected to be one of the greatest events, as finance ministers and heads of central banks of G20 will discuss a possible increase of capital of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the meeting in Mexico on Feb.24-26. Mexico presides over G20 in 2012.

The Group of Twenty, or G20, is the premier forum for international cooperation on the most important aspects of the international economic and financial agenda. It brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies. G20 includes 19 country (Argentina, France, Japan, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, India, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, Canada, Indonesia, Russia, United States, China, Italy and Saudi Arabia) and the European Union, that all together represent around 90% of global GDP, 80% of global trade, and two thirds of the world’s population.

Moreover, other interested countries, as well as competent international organizations are also invited to this forum. This year, Azerbaijan along with Austria, Colombia, Chile, Norway, Algeria, the Organization of African Union and others were invited to the G20. It’s obvious that they all come from different continents, but only Azerbaijan was invited from the Eastern European countries. This is evidence to recognition of Azerbaijan’s growing role in international politics and economics.

G20 was formed to discuss the pressing problems of the world economy and finance, but after 2008, the forum became a venue for exchange and coordination of the positions on topical issues of international politics. At the last summit held in Cannes in early November 2011, the discussions were focused on measures to prevent the global financial crisis.

Although the agenda of the discussions in Mexico is not declared yet, it is obvious that at a time when the financial crisis, the debt problem is acute in Europe, volatility observed on the stock exchanges, the economy is slowly taken from the recession, very debt problem, currency, government and corporate debt will be the main themes of the discussion. Participation of Azerbaijan, which has a sovereign fund (SOFAZ) with substantial reserves of over $30 billion, in discussions on these issues, is quite substantive. Moreover, the financial assets of the country’s oil fund grow at $8-$10 billion yearly.
 
Azerbaijan’s view and position are important in the context of its non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council. Indeed, a situation around Iran and the processes in the Middle East will certainly be among the foreign policy issues that will be the focus of the upcoming summit in Mexico. Invitation of Azerbaijan as a country directly bordering Iran and one of the few Muslim countries that have successfully engaged in the modernization of the economy and society is fully justified.
 
Only after the summit, we will know how much Azerbaijan’s participation in the new format was noticeable. One thing is clear - Azerbaijan growingly strengthens its international position, turns in the state pursuing an independent foreign policy, whose opinion should be heard out and taken into account.



/Day.Az/