By  Trend

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Azerbaijan proceed to the next step of modernization of the country’s legislative basis on bilateral investment agreements, head of the Investment Policies Branch of UNCTAD Jorg Weber told Trend.

He noted that UNCTAD and Azerbaijan have already done a lot of work as part of modernization of bilateral investment agreements.

Currently, Azerbaijan has more than 50 such agreements with various countries.

Weber believes it is very important that investment agreements are consistent with the country’s development strategy. He added that in this context, UNCTAD wants to help Azerbaijan harmonize international obligations with the national policy.

"A big challenge for Azerbaijan is not only the fulfillment of international obligations, but also the need to ensure that these obligations are not contrary to the country’s development strategy," he noted.

Weber cited the agriculture sector as an example, which is one of the priority directions of economic development amid falling oil prices.

"[In the preparation of investment agreements] it is necessary to take into account in what areas the country has a competitive advantage. Bilateral investment agreements should be flexible enough to allow the country to develop in the direction it wants," he added.