DAVOS COMES TO BAKU

"Satisfaction", "reform", "cautious optimism" - these three words, as calculated by the British newspaper the Guardian, were the most frequently used at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Journalists of the British newspaper drew attention to the fact that most of the forum participants expressed satisfaction with the improvement of the economic situation in the world and called for the reforms to be continued. In short, everyone expressed cautious optimism about the global economy overcoming the crisis.

Similar views were expressed at meetings of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Davos, but with only one difference - when it came to cooperation with Azerbaijan itself, cautious optimism gave way to confidence.

Convenient platform

Perhaps, this contributed to the decision to hold the World Economic Forum in Baku in April this year. The agreement to this effect was confirmed at a meeting with the Azerbaijani president by the founder and executive director of the Davos Forum, Klaus Schwab. He expressed the hope that the upcoming World Economic Forum in Baku will contribute to the development of cooperation and integration in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

The meeting noted that in recent years, cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Davos World Economic Forum has entered a new stage of development. The positive impact that the forum has on cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union was also emphasized.

In general, at the 43rd session of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, President Ilham Aliyev had several meetings that reflect the priorities of the country in the coming years.

This year's most prestigious global economic platform brought together three thousand delegates from more than 100 countries, including presidents and heads of government from almost 50 states. This forum was held under the motto of "Resilient Dynamism", which indicates the leitmotif of the summit: to save the euro zone and overcome the global economic crisis. At the same time, the forum discussed issues relating to the effects of the "Arab Spring", the prospects of the development of various regions of the world, energy security, etc.

Azerbaijan acts at the Davos forum as an energy exporter with a developing economy and social infrastructure, has great investment opportunities and is not burdened with debts. Baku is one of the few participants in the forum with a stable and forward-looking attitude. This year, President Ilham Aliyev took maximum advantage of this platform to inform the world political and economic elite about the investment opportunities of and prospects for cooperation with Azerbaijan in various spheres of the economy.

Priorities

In an interview with CNN, the president of Azerbaijan said that the World Economic Forum is the most favourable place for promoting the country, attracting foreign investment and establishing cooperation with new economic partners.

The president also dotted the "i's" in relations with such an authoritative global energy player as BP. Ilham Aliyev said that the relations of friendship, cooperation and partnership between Azerbaijan and BP have nearly a 20-year history and that "our relations will continue for at least another 20 years". He stressed that projects implemented with the British oil giant are focused on the future, and the British company's relations with its other partners, in particular Rosneft, do not cause concern in Baku.

By the way, relations with BP were discussed directly at the Azerbaijani president's meeting with the company chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg. The sides exchanged views on cooperation within the framework of the Azari-Ciraq-Gunasli project, the Sah Daniz gas pipeline and the Trans -Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), and Aliyev expressed confidence that these ties will expand in the future.

At a meeting with the head of Total, Christophe de Margerie, the president also expressed his satisfaction with the long-term partnership between Azerbaijan and the company. Bilateral cooperation with Total is also making its contribution to the development of Azerbaijani-French economic relations.

At the same time, both in individual negotiations and in an interview with CNN, Ilham Aliyev expressed Azerbaijan's interest in the further diversification of the economy and investment in the non-oil sector of the country, especially in the sphere of high technologies, information and communication technologies and services.

 In accordance with the objectives, the president met in Davos with the president of Microsoft International, Jean-Philippe Courtois. According to news agencies, the meeting emphasized the importance of services offered by the company for implementing the "e-government" project in Azerbaijan and discussed the future prospects of signing the agreement on strategic cooperation between Microsoft International and Azerbaijan and the establishment of an information centre of the company in Baku.

At a meeting with the president of Thales Alenia Space, Jean-Lo?c Galle, the president discussed issues concerning the launch of Azerbaijan's second telecommunication satellite into orbit.

The development of information and communication technologies in Azerbaijan was also a subject of negotiations with the chief executive officer of Booz & Company, Cesare Mainardi.

Periodic exchanges of views with the leaders of the world's largest telecommunications companies are an indication of the priority of this area for Azerbaijan. President Aliyev's meetings in Davos are particularly relevant in the light of the Year of Information and Communication Technologies he has proclaimed.

The meeting in Davos between the president of Azerbaijan and the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Suma Chakrabarti, was very important in terms of attracting investment.

The EBRD considers Azerbaijan to be one of the most reliable and promising partners. The many years of fruitful cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EBRD were pointed out and prospects for the development of relations in the energy and other sectors of the economy, in the sphere of information and communication technology, industry, agriculture, tourism and other areas were discussed. Incidentally, the EBRD president said that he intends to visit Azerbaijan.

It must be noted that at the dawn of the global financial crisis in 2009, EBRD experts said at the annual conference held in Kiev that Azerbaijan was one of the few countries painlessly overcoming the crisis. In EBRD studies, Azerbaijan, as a rule, gets a high assessment in terms of economic prospects.

Issues of further investment and participation in projects being implemented in Azerbaijan were discussed in Davos between the Azerbaijani president and the CEO of the International Finance Corporation, Jin-Yong Cai, the head of Holcim Group, Bernard Fontana, as well as the president of the well-known consulting company McKinsey & Company, Dominic Barton.

During the summit in Davos, Aliyev also met with the president of the Swiss Confederation, Ueli Maurer, and discussed issues of bilateral cooperation with Israeli President Shimon Peres, as well as the implementation of the TANAP project with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The president also spoke at various sessions, making productive use of his participation in the summit to showcase the achievements, economic potential and investment opportunities of Azerbaijan.

The traditionally busy schedule of President Ilham Aliyev's meetings at the Davos Forum in itself shows the great interest in Azerbaijan and its economy from the world's leading companies, countries and international organizations. The 43rd session of the forum was no exception. Moreover, Azerbaijan was selected as a platform for discussing problems of the world economy.