00:03Karabakh
00:04Economic Zones creating circular economies, renovating the old and rebuilding the new.
00:09Karabakh sits in the southwest of Azerbaijan and is undergoing a transformation,
00:14which is now being hailed as an example of excellence.
00:18I'm Nadira Tudor and welcome to Business Horizons.
00:22On today's programme we're looking at rebuilding Karabakh,
00:25Economic Zones and the future of development.
00:37Welcome to Business Horizons, Aydin Karamov, who is Special Representative President in the Shusha District.
00:44Thank you for joining us.
00:45Thank you. Good to see you.
00:47Could you explain to me what the long-term vision for Karabakh's development is?
00:51More than 40,000 former IDPs and refugees already returned to their homes in their cities and villages.
00:58Now we are preparing the second stage of the Great Return Programme from 2027 to 2030, so about four years.
01:07And that will be mainly focused on rebuilding the residential and urban facilities.
01:14If we look at the Economic Zones, they are designed differently.
01:18The government has established two important Economic Zones, not far from the two key hub cities.
01:26One is near Agdam, called Agdam Economic Zone.
01:30And the second is Aras Valley Economic Zone, which is located near the city of Jabra'il,
01:37close to the river Araks and the Iranian border.
01:41Agdam is mainly production, industrial, light industry, maybe in the future some heavy industries.
01:49Aras Valley Park is especially designed for logistics operations.
01:53All businesses who are opening their permanent offices there, start businesses there, being it in production, services or whatever,
02:03they are exempt from taxes.
02:06The tax exemptions show real commitment, don't they?
02:11The government has offered these incentives for today's 10 years period for tax freedom.
02:19How do you see the future?
02:21By giving the hopes and chances for the people we'll be developing
02:26and we'll be one of the best places in the world for people to live.
02:33Now time for our Business Horizons Insight.
02:36Azerbaijan has allocated over 11 billion euros since 2020 toward rebuilding Karabakh and eastern Zangazul.
02:44Focusing heavily on non-oil sector growth, the Agdam Industrial Park alone has attracted nearly 88 million euros
02:52in private enterprise investments, creating a major manufacturing centre designed around tax exemptions
02:58and state-funded infrastructure.
03:01Pilot projects centring on sustainability like the Zangalang Smart Village in Arali rely on 100% green energy.
03:09It utilises localised hydropower and solar capacity and it's establishing a sustainable blueprint
03:15for all upcoming residential developments across the region.
03:19Karabakh is undergoing hugely ambitious reconstruction programmes
03:24and has been celebrated as a model of good practice at the World Urban Forum.
03:28So we went on location to see the progress first hand.
03:42Our biggest challenge was starting reconstruction almost from the zero.
03:47And there was a list of challenges such as assessing damaged infrastructure, providing new utility networks.
03:55There is also a challenge of mountainous terrain with demanding climate conditions, also preserving the historical identity in the cities.
04:11We've used BIM technologies, which is building information modeling for construction, GIS plannings, drone surveys, laser scans for historical buildings
04:24as well.
04:24Personally, I'm really proud of taking part in rebuilding Shusha and creating better conditions for residents, for visitors.
04:36And this gives me hope for the future of Shusha.
04:39Rebuilding post-conflict areas has become a worldwide priority, as is housing for all, as stated by the United Nations.
04:47The developments in Karabakh has proven that with time, investment and effort, the vision can be achieved.
04:52That's all for this edition of Business Horizons.
04:55Thanks for watching.
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