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Qabil Ashirov

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A new chapter is being opened in the relationship between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the two Turkic-speaking countries.

Thus, both countries plan to establish an investment fund with capital worth $300 million that will finance very crucial projects The Chairman of the Samruk Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund noted that the fund will also ensure the financing of priority projects in various sectors of the economies of Central Asian countries, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Turkiye. He added that the fund will strengthen Kazakhstan's partnership with Azerbaijan.

It is worth noting that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan increases year by year. Thus, Kazakhstan has invested $114 million in Azerbaijan. In its turn, Azerbaijan has invested $215 million in Kazakhstan. Currently, over 200 companies with Kazakh capital operate in Azerbaijan, and besides, over 50 Kazakh companies are eager to operate in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.

In a comment to Azernews, economist Natig Jafarly noted that economic and political relations between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are experiencing the highest period in history. He said that in 2020, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan was just about 150 million dollars, and now this turnover has increased to 500 million dollars. He emphasised that a fairly serious increase in the trade turnover between the two countries has been observed.

“Also, the direction of economic cooperation has increased to a multi-faceted model. Previously, there was cooperation in fewer fields, but now the fields have expanded. The most important of these is to export Kazakh oil to world markets through Azerbaijan. This issue is very relevant for Kazakhstan. Kazakh oil has been mostly exported from Novorassiski port. The Russian-Ukrainian wars, actions, and the difficulty of ship traffic have created problems for Kazakhstan as well. Therefore, the country attaches great importance to alternative routes. The simplest and most effective way is to deliver Kazakh oil to the port of Ceyhan through Azerbaijan’s Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. A lot of work has already been done in this regard. Sufficient bilateral agreements have been signed, and a mutually beneficial cooperation model has been established. It is worth noting that this issue is very significant for Kazakhstan,” N. Jafarly said.

The economist underscored that this cooperation also gives reason to say that it stems from the very pleasant and good attitude of the Azerbaijani President and the President of Kazakhstan towards the union of Turkic-speaking countries. Natig Jafarly noted that the union of Turkic states is a very serious market. This market covers an area of up to 4 million square kilometres and has a population of more than 160 million.

It goes without saying that the cooperation of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan can become a factor that can stimulate the cooperation of Turkic-speaking republics. I think the newly created investment fund will serve just that. Investments made in both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and established joint ventures can turn the two countries into hubs for logistics. Because of the current conditions in the world, after the events around the Red Sea, various forms of the East-West corridor are being investigated. The most effective way to connect Asia to Europe and vice versa is through the middle corridor, passing through Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. This project is quite profitable for both countries and will be able to increase the reputation of both countries all around the globe. It seems to me that this investment fund will also be spent on the implementation of suitable projects to solve this issue,” the economist added.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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