BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6. Azerbaijan discussed reforms in the field of digitalization of public finances with the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) on October 6.
The discussions took place during a meeting between Azerbaijan's Minister of Finance, Sahil Babayev, and a delegation led by the Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), Deemah AlYahya.
The meeting addressed issues of digital transformation and innovation financing. Participants exchanged views on financing national digital priorities, improving the efficiency of public investments, innovative financing mechanisms, and expanding investment partnerships in the field of digital infrastructure and innovation.
Minister Sahil Babayev highly commended the role of the DCO in promoting digital transformation, developing the digital economy, and strengthening cooperation among member countries. Expressing satisfaction with the decision to approve Azerbaijan’s membership in the DCO, the minister emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation with the DCO.
S. Babayev noted that the “Action Plan for Accelerating Digital
Development in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2026–2028” outlines
the main directions of the country’s digital transformation agenda
and covers priority areas such as artificial intelligence,
innovation, cybersecurity, and others.
The minister noted that digital development issues are a key focus
in Azerbaijan as one of the priority areas of state policy. In
particular, the Council on Digital Development, established under
the chairmanship of Mehriban Aliyeva, First Vice President of the
Republic of Azerbaijan, is responsible for formulating and
coordinating state policy in key areas of digital development,
coordinating the implementation of relevant measures, and ensuring
the fulfillment of tasks set in this sphere.
The meeting also featured a presentation on reforms being carried out to digitize public finance management. It was noted that the “Digital Public Finance” (DPF) information system enables the integration of budget management, treasury, accounting, public procurement, and public property management processes into a single digital environment, allowing them to be carried out more efficiently, flexibly, and promptly.
At the same time, while discussing the potential applications of artificial intelligence technologies in public finance management, Babaev noted that the development of AI-based solutions had begun within the framework of the Digital Public Finance Information System. It was noted that the future holds vast opportunities for using these technologies in financial analysis, risk identification, forecasting, anomaly detection, and decision support.
For her part, Deemah AlYahya highly commended the reforms being implemented by Azerbaijan toward digital transformation and the digitization of public finance management. She expressed interest in expanding the exchange of expertise and practical cooperation with Azerbaijan in the areas of digital development, artificial intelligence, innovation, and investment partnerships within the framework of the DCO.
During the meeting, issues related to the modernization of the treasury system, the financing of digital transformation projects, and investment opportunities were also discussed. In this context, it was noted that, in addition to improving the efficiency of public investment, it is important to mobilize private capital and financial resources from international financial institutions, as well as to stimulate investment in digital infrastructure and innovation projects.
