The Azerbaijan - AmCham

The Azerbaijan Investors' Summit 2011Introduction(Sources: USACC 2010)Azerbaijan continues to undergo rapid development, gaining a further role on the world stage. Thegovernment's priorities include continuing its growth as an energy provider and transport country,strengthening infrastructure, creating new jobs, developing the non-oil economy, and creating ananchor of stability and prosperity in the region. These developments and policies create newopportunities for foreign investors and firms interested in this region.According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Azerbaijan is one of themost attractive countries in the world for investment.While much of the economy has benefited from the oil and gas industry, myriad business opportunitiesexist in non-oil sectors: construction, building material, engineering services, infrastructure,transportation and aviation, telecommunications equipment and services, agriculture and foodprocessing, and last but not least alternative energy.Numerous foreign companies have made investments in extracting Azerbaijan's significant oil andgas reserves. Azerbaijan already has major oil and gas pipelines energy to Western markets, includingthe Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) gas pipeline.Others are under consideration, including the Nabucco pipeline to move Caspian gas reserve toEuropean markets, thus creating new opportunities in the field of energy. In addition to primaryjobs and opportunities created within the energy sector, the growth of the industry is having spillovereffects on the services sector as well. In particular, this includes services to enterprises, tradeand catering, mobile telecommunications, construction and property.Azerbaijan is increasingly becoming known for its pro-business attitude, helped by its tangiblecommercial reforms that have liberalized its non-energy economy.Agriculture is the second largest sector of the economy and agricultural processing is accelerating,with many food products processed for export. There is current demand for agricultural machinery,as well as food processing and packaging technology.Construction remains a large sector of the economy and real estate has seen unprecedentedgrowth particularly in the capital, Baku. The construction industry has been largely tied to the ebband flow of various energy projects, although domestically driven demand appears to be pickingup.Azerbaijan engaged in the telecom industry with the impressive announcement that the countrywill launch its own communication satellite in 2012. Wireless communication is the fastest growingsubsector in the telecom industry, an area in which the country has been a regional and globalleader.Azerbaijan's medical sector is poised for significant growth, driven largely by government investmentin healthcare and increasing incomes from oil revenue and development. Primary healthcareand private health insurance remain underdeveloped.Azerbaijan's main trading partners includes so far the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia,Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Georgia, South Korea, China and Indonesia.