BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 20. On May 20, Sahil Babayev, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan, met with Rolande Pryce, the World Bank’s Regional Director for the South Caucasus, who is currently visiting our country, Trend reports via the country's Ministry of Finance.
The meeting discussed the current state of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the World Bank, joint projects in the energy and transport sectors, as well as priority areas for the future. In addition, as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) taking place in Baku, an exchange of views took place on opportunities to expand cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development and infrastructure.
Minister Sahil Babayev noted that cooperation with the World Bank makes a significant contribution to Azerbaijan’s socio-economic development and highlighted the successful development of the partnership in the areas of energy transition, strengthening transport links, infrastructure modernization, social protection, employment, and institutional reforms. He highlighted the importance of cooperation in the energy sector, emphasizing the special role of the “AZURE” project in Azerbaijan’s strategy for the transition to green energy. It is reported that, as part of the project, work is being carried out to integrate renewable energy sources into the national power grid and expand the electricity transmission infrastructure.
Referring to the “Regional Connectivity and Development” project, implemented with the support of the World Bank, Babayev noted that the completion of the reconstruction of the Salyan-Bilasuvar road corridor is of great importance in terms of strengthening regional ties and improving logistics infrastructure. Potential financing options for the rehabilitation of the Bilasuvar-Astara section of the M3 highway were also discussed, and the strategic role of regional transport corridors in strengthening economic integration was emphasized.
In turn, Rolande Pryce expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the World Bank and expressed interest in further expanding cooperation in the areas of energy infrastructure, climate resilience, “green” development, social protection, employment, and human capital development. She noted that the World Bank’s participation in WUF13 is of great importance in terms of expanding partnerships in the areas of sustainable urban development and infrastructure development.
The parties also emphasized the importance of continuing the dialogue between Azerbaijan and the World Bank to identify future strategic directions.
