BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 25. A favorable investment environment has been established in Azerbaijan. Stability, successful reforms, a strong legislative framework and other important factors have contributed to increasing the country's investment attractiveness.
A favorable and sustainable environment for developing highly competitive industrial production has been created in the industrial zones operating in the country. To this end, residents can operate in areas fully equipped by the government with the necessary engineering and utility infrastructure, including electricity, gas, water, roads, communications and other services.
Residents of industrial parks are also provided with extensive tax and customs incentives. They are exempt from profit, property and land taxes for 10 years from the date of registration. In addition, machinery, technological equipment and facilities imported for production purposes are exempt from value-added tax and customs duties for 10 years.
These and other factors are supporting a sustained flow of investment into the country, which is reflected in statistical indicators. According to the State Statistics Committee, investment in Azerbaijan's non-oil and gas sector increased by 1.9% in real terms in January-July 2026 compared with the same period of last year, reaching 7.4033 billion manats ($4.354 billion).
Alongside increasing investment inflows, the more efficient selection and prioritization of investment projects and the acceleration of their implementation are also becoming increasingly important. This need has led to the creation of a new institutional mechanism within Azerbaijan's investment policy.
By a Cabinet of Ministers order dated June 1, 2026, a Commission was established to ensure the accelerated implementation of strategic investment projects of particular importance to the country's economy, introduce a unified approach to project planning and implementation, and strengthen interagency coordination.
The initial list of strategic investment projects is determined by the Ministry of Economy, after which a list of potential investment projects is submitted to the Commission for consideration. The Commission will select and evaluate strategic investment projects based on objective analytical criteria under a "fast-track" mechanism. This is expected to reduce the implementation time of major investment projects by approximately 30%-40%.
The new mechanism is designed to ensure that strategically important investment projects are implemented through a more coordinated and unified approach. The implementation of major investment projects involves a range of issues, requiring prompt and coordinated decisions on land, infrastructure, energy supply, construction, environmental protection, customs, taxation, transportation and other areas.
For this reason, the inclusion in the Commission of government bodies responsible for the economy, finance, energy, environment, justice, labor, emergency situations, agriculture, digital development and transport, customs, urban planning and other areas is particularly important.
Such broad institutional representation will allow strategic projects to be assessed from different perspectives and facilitate faster coordination of multiple issues among various government agencies.
Thus, the fast-track mechanism for strategic investment projects is expected to accelerate and streamline their implementation.
