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In its December issue the "Český Exportér" magazine issued by Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and Czech Trade Authority published an article titled 'Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan chose the path of shift from oil to modern economy'.
The article emphasized that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have put an end to their dependence on oil exports and have developed various areas of the economy. In this connection, it was noted that Czech companies have a great opportunity to participate in the domestic markets of both countries. Czech and foreign companies are constantly paying attention to Central Asia and South Caucasus due to the large mineral resources of Kazakhstan in Central Asia and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus.
It was noted that as a result of the foreign capital investments in Azerbaijan over the past 20 years, an increase of 7 billion barrels from 1.2 billion barrels in country's oil reserves has been geologically confirmed.
The report also stressed that Baku has become a major commercial port city and plays an important transit role in cargo transportation. Also, attention was paid to the major energy projects implemented by our country. The article says that Azerbaijan's number one priority energy project is currently the Southern Gas Corridor and stresses the importance of supplying gas to Europe via a line that does not depend on Russia. The $40bn-project, which includes TANAP and TAP pipelines, will be launched in 2020 through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Italy. It is also noted in the article that SOCAR will increase natural gas exports 30 billion cubic meters by 2020.
The report also touches upon the recent opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, initiated by Azerbaijan. It was pointed out that the 820-kilometer-long railway line creates a direct link between Europe and China, not merely the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey route.
In conclusion the articles stresses the importance of the diversification of the Azerbaijani economy. According to it, the Government of Azerbaijan announced agricultural and food industry, pharmaceutical, electro-technical, mechanical engineering, consumer and environmental technologies as priority areas. The article especially notes that opportunities are being created for Czech companies.
