OTS opens up good prospects for member states: economist [COMMENTARY]

Economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkic states, which covers roughly all sectors, gradually increases. The relations among these fraternal countries are expanding day by day.

As Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the 10th Summit of the Organisation, Azerbaijan had invested more than 20 billion US dollars in the economies of Turkic states. The process of establishing the joint investment funds is underway. The Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Investment Fund and the Azerbaijan-Kyrgyzstan Development Fund have been established. Besides, from January to September 2023, Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with the Turkic states increased by 40 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

Obviously, these achievements will not stay at this level, and since there are enough bases for advancing these achievements, they will develop further. In a comment to Azernews on the issue, the economist and politician Natig Jafarly stressed that the Organization of Turkic States is becoming more and more a regional power and a regional centre. The reason is because the advantages of geography, population, territory, and logistics gradually increase interest in this organisation.

“Taking into account the transition from the global world to the fragmented world, we can say that the Organisation of Turkic States is becoming one of the power centres and centres of gravity in this fragmented world. This, in turn, opens up good prospects for member countries of the organisation, including Azerbaijan. Also, through this organisation, Azerbaijan has opportunities and means to increase its economic potential and relations with other Turkic states. That is why the creation of various institutions and the discussions of new investment projects during the last summit of the Turkic States were quite attractive. It should be noted that the creation of these funds is also attractive for Azerbaijan itself, and the jointly created investment funds will be used to create economic activity in Azerbaijan, especially in the liberated territories,” Natig Jafaly said.

He pointed out that it is also natural to increase the trade turnover of Turkic-speaking countries with Azerbaijan. Because the creation of new logistics routes, new raw materials, and sources of final products is one of the most important problems that need to be resolved in our world.

Here, too, Azerbaijan is trying to work more closely with its close partners.

“The issue is that Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with Turkmenistan has increased several times recently. Significant increases are observed in trade turnover with Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's oil products are transited through Azerbaijan, which is also a security issue for this country and means that it is on the way to reducing its dependence on its northern neighbour. Azerbaijan plays a serious role here, and this project is very important for Kazakhstan.

Besides, several big projects were discussed with Uzbekistan. Tourism relations between Azerbaijan and Turkic-speaking countries in Central Asia have expanded. The number of airway lines in this direction has increased several times. All this will increase the possibility of the Turkic States Organisation becoming a bigger regional power in the future. It should also be taken into account that we are talking about dynamically developing states covering an area of approximately 4 million square kilometres and a population of about 180 million. It also comes from a region with a demographic advantage. In other words, geographical, demographic, and logistical advantages will turn into economic dividends in the future,” economist Natig Jafarly added.