ICD deal to boost Azerbaijan investment push

The Jeddah-based Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) is supporting efforts to attract more investors to the Alat Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Azerbaijan.
The FTZ is expected to start its operations in 2017.
“A favorable business environment and the proximity of Azerbaijan to rich and populous neighboring markets of Russia, Iran, Turkey and Central Asian countries make the Port of Baku an ideal choice for potential foreign investors,” Taleh Ziyadov, director-general of Baku International Sea Trade Port CJSC (Port of Baku), said on Thursday.
“The Port of Baku and the FTZ that is being created around it will serve as a logistics hub for global private companies that seek to establish regional headquarters in Eurasia,” he said .
Ziyadov’s remarks came as he and Khaled Mohammed Al-Aboodi, CEO and general manager of ICD, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of involving private sector players in the projects.
Al-Aboodi said: “We will strengthen mutual efforts to attract potential investors and consider the possibility of involving global private sector players from the ICD member countries in the Port of Baku and FTZ in Alat.”
On March 17, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on the measures to establish an FTZ in and around the new port in the Alat township of Baku.
On Sept. 7, the Azerbaijani government and the Port of Baku signed an advisory agreement with “DP World” of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on providing consultation for the establishment of a free trade zone in Alat.
The Port of Baku is the oldest and largest port on the Caspian Sea.
For centuries, the port served as a link between East and West, alongside the ancient Silk Road, as well as North-South transport corridor that connects North Europe and Russia with Middle East and South Asia.
The port’s grand hub vision includes an integrated development model that links the port, free-trade zone, petrochemical industry, the Alat township and other strategic transport and non-transport projects under the umbrella of a Special Legal Regime.
The Port of Baku at Alat is to become the largest free-trade zone in the Caspian region, fed by growing regional petrochemical feedstock.
It aims to offer comprehensive logistics and value-added services to zone residents and international clients, serving as a major regional intermodal distribution hub.

Source: Arab News