More than a thousand businesspeople and investors from around the world, 500 of them from Türkiye, came together in Azerbaijan for the reconstruction and revival of Karabakh, which was liberated from the Armenian occupation.
The "25th International Business Forum (ıBF)", held under the leadership of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), was organized in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
Within the scope of the forum, attention was drawn to Azerbaijan's trade and investment potential, and in particular the steps to be taken for the reconstruction and revival of Karabakh and the surrounding provinces liberated from occupation were discussed.
In his statement, MÜSİAD Founding President and IBF President Erol Yarar said that Karabakh, whose lands have not been cultivated for years and whose infrastructure is in poor condition, must be revived.
Stating that billions of dollars of infrastructure investment are needed in the lands Azerbaijan has liberated from occupation and that projects are required to bring the lands back into production, Yarar said: "As MÜSİAD, we have very serious experience in this field. The reason we came here is to transfer our experience. We want to work on being able to take people back to their own lands. We will present our projects, and if the Azerbaijani state embraces these projects, we will bring our businesspeople and we will carry them out."
Pointing out that agriculture is the field with the greatest potential to be realized most quickly, Yarar said: "There is a mine problem, and this can also be eliminated quickly. Once this problem is eliminated, we want the lands to be brought into agriculture immediately, job and income opportunities to be opened up for the people who will be settled there, and the villages and towns to be developed rapidly."
The aim is to raise the trade volume to 15 billion dollars
MÜSİAD President Mahmut Asmalı, for his part, stated that they had come to Azerbaijan in order to reinforce the emphasis on "one nation, two states" in the commercial and economic fields as well, and that they would raise the contribution Turkish businesspeople will make to Azerbaijan to a much higher level.
Emphasizing that the trade volume between Türkiye and Azerbaijan stands at the level of 3 billion dollars and that this figure is a low one that does not reflect the potential, Asmalı said: "(The trade volume) We aim to raise it to 10 billion dollars in the medium term and to 15 billion dollars within 5 years. The environment and the ground are very favourable for this. Turkish businesspeople are very eager. We have work under way particularly on the agricultural activities to be carried out in Karabakh and on smart agriculture."
"Türkiye will play a very large role in the construction of Karabakh"
AK Party Gaziantep Deputy Mehmet Erdoğan, who attended the forum, said that Türkiye would play a major role in the construction and underground development of Karabakh.
Erdoğan said: "People need to return to their lands. This means hundreds of thousands of homes. In this respect Türkiye will make a great contribution. Türkiye will play a very large role in the construction of Karabakh."
Cemil Yüksekdağ, Member of the MÜSİAD Board of Directors and Chairman of the Construction and Building Materials Sector Board, reported that they are carrying out work to produce "smart city" projects for the regions liberated from occupation and being rebuilt.
Yüksekdağ said: "As Turkish investors possessing vision and capability in the field of smart cities', we have come here to transfer these capabilities and to make investments. We will continue with serious investments in the Azerbaijani market."
Fatih Altunbaş, Member of the MÜSİAD Board of Directors and Chairman of the Defence Industry Sector Board, emphasized that the bond of hearts with Azerbaijan is of far greater importance than trade. Altunbaş assessed: "We work in the defence industry, we produce ammunition. We have been working in Azerbaijan since 2010. We think that after the Karabakh victory we will achieve a larger trade volume here."
Esra Kaftancıoğlu, Member of the MÜSİAD Board of Directors, said that as businesswomen they play an active role not only locally but also globally, and added: "We will carry out work to grow our strength together with the women entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan."
Bilal Saygılı, President of the MÜSİAD İzmir Branch, stated that he believes mutual business relations with Azerbaijan will increase and said: "We are holding talks regarding Karabakh's energy sector. We have been working in Azerbaijan for 15 years. This work of ours will continue and grow stronger."
Within the scope of the event, B2B meetings were also held, while participants had the opportunity to exhibit their products in the fair area that was set up.