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Azerbaijan takes part in EBRD Annual Meeting

15 May 2009 15:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev â€“ APA-Economics. The Annual Meeting of the EBRD Board of Governors and Business Forum will take place in London at EBRD Headquarters Friday 15 and Saturday 16 May.

Azerbaijanâ€™s Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev is attending the event with a delegation comprised of Azerbaijan Investment Companyâ€™s President Afghan Isayev and representatives from Azerdemiryolbank, Bank of Baku and Bank Respublika.

The impact of the credit crunch and ensuing global financial crisis on the EBRD region will be the focus of discussions under the overall theme of the Meeting Investing for the Future: Opportunities in a Tougher Climate.

Topics will examine the origins of the crisis and the lessons to be learnt, while looking at solutions that will provide for sustainable economic growth across the region.

"During the two-day meeting the Bank is expected to sign a number of projects, sealing further investments in the financial, enterprise and infrastructure sector. In the first quarter of this year, investments rose 64 percent to â‚¬1.1 billion compared to last year," EBRD reported.

The EBRD is also looking beyond the immediate demands of the crisis to ensure that economies in the region continue to prepare for the longer-term future.

During the meeting the EBRD will unveil plans to extend its investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The EBRDâ€™s Sustainable Energy Initiative launched in 2006 has already led to investments of â‚¬14 billion over the last three years, helping to reduce energy intensity and to make economies more competitive.

As usual the EBRD is staging a Business Forum alongside the Annual Meeting, providing a platform this year for senior politicians and policy-makers, business executives and economic experts to draw lessons from the crisis and map out solutions.

The EBRD 2008 Annual Meeting and Business Forum took place in Kiev, Ukraine on 18 and 19 May.