The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has unveiled its new Country Partnership Strategy with Azerbaijan for 2025–2029, outlining a roadmap to boost the country’s transition toward a diversified, competitive, and green economy.
According to the strategy, ADB will explore investment opportunities in renewable energy, manufacturing, agribusiness, and logistics. The focus will be on projects funded through both foreign capital and blended financing, including in local currency.
The document notes that Azerbaijan is actively working to reduce the state sector’s role in the economy through corporatization of state-owned enterprises, while attracting investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and sustainable energy.
“We aim to accelerate economic diversification by strengthening both hard and soft trade infrastructure, supporting local businesses, encouraging innovation, and helping develop the domestic capital market,” ADB states.
Export Diversification as a Cornerstone
ADB emphasizes that non-oil export growth is critical to attracting productive foreign direct investment (FDI), creating jobs, and lowering the economy’s carbon footprint.
The strategy envisions a shift away from fossil fuel dependency toward a knowledge-based export model, encouraging the development of high value-added products and services. Proposed measures include:
Facilitating the emergence of new sectors, such as digital services and advanced manufacturing
Easing market entry for entrepreneurs
Supporting innovation and corporate governance reforms
Enhancing workforce skills and retention of qualified professionals
Role of Regional Integration and WTO Accession
Regional cooperation remains a key element of Azerbaijan’s export diversification agenda. ADB sees enhanced access to new markets as critical to the country’s World Trade Organization (WTO) accession and long-term trade competitiveness.
Since joining ADB in 1999, Azerbaijan has received more than $5 billion in loans, including $1.7 billion for energy and $1.5 billion for transport projects.
ADB’s new partnership strategy underscores its commitment to aligning with Azerbaijan’s national development goals and building a more resilient, sustainable, and innovation-driven economy.
