Minister: Azerbaijan interested in joint green projects with WB

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan is interested in implementing green projects jointly with the World Bank (WB), Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov said, Azernews reports per Trend.

He made the remarks during the event on “prospects for growth of changing global economy”.

Noting that the bank has made a great contribution to the development of the Azerbaijani economy, the minister stressed that Azerbaijan is cooperating with WB in five priority areas, including projects for the restoration of the liberated lands, green projects, the creation of renewable energy sources and some others.

“Azerbaijan pays great attention to the hydrogen production sector, and in this direction, the country cooperates with international organizations,” he said.

Mikayil Jabbarov highlighted that in order to attract investments to the country and effectively use state funds, it’s necessary to develop new mechanisms and form a new environment.

He also expressed hope that the World Bank will continue cooperation with Azerbaijan in the future.

World Bank’s investment in Azerbaijani economy

Speaking at the event, the bank’s Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anna Bjerde stated that the WB invested over $4.5 billion in more than 50 projects in the Azerbaijani economy.

Noting that these investments were directed in almost all fields of activity, she underlined that the Azerbaijani economy has grown significantly and major reforms have been carried out in various directions over the past 30 years.

Anna Bjerde also stressed that the WB took part in the implementation of oil and gas projects.

“World Bank’s support for Azerbaijan will continue in the future, as before in an expanded form, in all sectors. World Bank is aimed at strengthening the stability of Azerbaijani economy,” she said.

CBA to increase security of payment cards

Azerbaijan’s Central Bank is planning to increase the security of payment cards and financial awareness, Chairman Taleh Kazimov said.

“The Central Bank is working on creating a strategy for financing financial and non-bank organizations,” he said.

He added that together with International Finance Corporation, work is being carried out on a project to buy out the credit debt.

Moreover, he stressed the necessity to create mechanisms to protect the rights of consumers of financial services.

“Here it's about the creation of local credit rating agencies, as well as other departments that regulate these issues,” he said.

Taleh Kazimov also stated that financial inclusion is expected to increase within the framework of the financial sector development strategy for 2026.

“Cashless transactions in Azerbaijan amount to 40 percent of the total turnover. The growth of bank cards in Azerbaijan amounted to about 50 percent, the number of transactions on them increased by 2-3 times,” he said.

Increase in official employment

"The growth in official employment in Azerbaijan amounted to 30 percent over the past three years or more than 400,000 labor contracts over the past three years," Labor and Social Security Minister Sahil Babayev said.

He added that about 55,000 micro and small enterprises have been registered in Azerbaijan in the past few years.

“In addition, we have identified about 1,000 specialties. Azerbaijani ministry will support students of these specialties,” he said.

The minister also mentioned that large-scale reforms in the field of ensuring the employment of the population have been carried out in Azerbaijan over the past three years.

“The ministry is conducting work to reduce the level of informal labor activity,” he said.

World Bank’s forecast for global economy

Speaking at the event, World Bank’s Chief Economist Ayhan Kose stated that the growth of the global economy may amount to 3 percent in 2022. He noted that WB’s specialists expect that in the future, the growth rates of the global economy will decrease.

“Earlier, the World Bank forecasted the growth of the global economy by five percent for the current year. The reduction in economic growth is associated with a few factors. For example, in 70 percent of the countries of the world, economic growth has significantly decreased, including in African countries,” he said.

Stressing that forecasts for the growth of the global economy for the coming decades will decline, Ayhan Kose noted that these factors are related to the disruption of the food supply chain and food security.

Azerbaijan joined the World Bank in 1992. The bank started economic cooperation in Azerbaijan to help increase the country’s institutional capacity and build efficient oil reserves management. The WB has always supported the large-scale reforms carried out in Azerbaijan.