BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is placing special emphasis on the development of the private sector in Azerbaijan with a view to diversifying the economy, decarbonizing various sectors, and attracting private capital, the Country Director for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Azerbaijan, Sunniya Durrani-Jamal, said, Trend's correspondent reports.
She made the statement at the Azerbaijan-Germany Conference on Strategic Partnership and Connectivity in Baku today.
Durrani-Jamal noted that further economic diversification requires making broader use of the private sector’s capital and creative potential, while simultaneously supporting the decarbonization of various industries.
“One of the bank’s main strategies is private sector development. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has traditionally served as a source of financing for governments for a long time. This raises questions about why we are focusing on private sector development. The reason is that we believe the private sector plays a very important role in mobilizing capital, and our research confirms this,” noted S. Durrani-Jamal.
According to her, a significant portion of capital is concentrated in the private sector. Furthermore, a significant portion of technological development also takes place in the private sector.
“More importantly, the private sector has enormous potential to improve efficiency and deliver results. That is why the bank has set a goal of increasing annual financing to the private sector to approximately $13 billion by 2030. This includes both our own financing and the funds we mobilize,” the ADB representative said.
Durrani-Jamal emphasized that the bank attaches great importance to collaborating with various private-sector partners to achieve this goal.
She noted that various financial instruments are used to attract private capital for infrastructure and transportation projects.
“Of course, the basic instruments we use include loans and equity financing. In addition, we also use mechanisms such as A/B loans, parallel financing, guarantees, and risk transfer,” Durrani-Jamal added.
The ADB’s Country Director stated that the aforementioned financial instruments make it possible to attract private capital, especially in areas requiring long-term investment, such as infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, and renewable energy.
