Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan, which is keen to establish a model of export-oriented economy and replace foreign imports with domestic production, has taken a next step in this regard.

The country has put into commission a new facade production plant, which was implemented jointly with Germany, one of the principal partners of Azerbaijan.

Head of the industry department at Azerbaijan’s Economy Ministry Samed Bashirli, addressing the opening ceremony said the commissioning of the plant will allow to decrease the volumes of imported production, as well as create new working places in the country.

Bashirli believes that the development of the construction sphere will also contribute to the improvement of other sectors of the economy, such as chemical industry, metallurgy, and manufacturing of machinery.

“The country has already done much in the sphere of production of building materials. For instance, the country is fully meeting the domestic demand in cement production by means of local output. Some 2 million tons of cement worth over $100 million were imported in the country in 2014, while the volume recorded a fourfold drop and decreased down to 500,000 tons of cement in 2015. The figure reduced to 320,000 tons of cement and clinker in January-August 2016, while the sum spent for import operations amounted to only $15 million. Moreover, the country exported some 100,000 tons of cement worth $5 million to Georgia,” he said.

Deutsche Fassaden Technologien’s (DFT) Director General Vladimir Zabenskiy, in turn, said that the plant will be specialized in the production of facades, windows and doors.

Capacity of the newly-established plant is estimated at 60-80 square meters per year. The total volume of investments made in the project is about 70 million manats ($ 43.07 million), with some 80 percent of the sum being provided by Azerbaijan and the rest accounting for Germany.

Zabenskiy mentioned that the output of the enterprise is planned to be mainly used for meeting domestic needs, while its export to the neighboring countries, particularly Georgia and Iran is also considered to be among future prospects. Germany will provide supply of raw materials and all necessary technologies for the production of output.

The sphere of construction is considered to be very competitive with increasing number of strong local and foreign companies able to deliver the highest international standards in the field.

Priority areas of the country in the sphere of construction are production of aluminum, lime, ceramics, construction glass as well as construction of logical warehouses and machinery plants.

The majority of construction projects are centralized in Absheron due to the abundance of raw materials and high demand. Nevertheless, there are also centers for the production of construction materials throughout the country.

The products of building industry in Azerbaijan include cement, iron-concrete products and panels, cubic stones, brick, glass, slate, asbestos-cement pipe, heat-insulating polymer construction materials, linoleum, plumbing and chemical window and door products. Building facades is one of the largest, and most important elements in the overall aesthetic and technical performance of a building.

Germany is Azerbaijan’s fourth most important trading partner, after Russia, Turkey and the United States. The volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Germany amounted to $2 billion in 2015, while the major portion of trade turnover figures fell to the share of industrial production.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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