00:00We, in the last 20 years, accumulated more than 350 billion U.S. dollars of investments.
00:08Half of that is a direct foreign investment.
00:16Global investment is changing.
00:18Geopolitical uncertainty and disrupted supply chains are forcing businesses around the world to rethink where they choose to invest.
00:26Throughout the forum, the amount of contracts and agreements, which was signed, exceeded actually 10 billion dollars, 10.8, equivalent
00:38of 10.8 billion dollars, which preceded last year's figure.
00:42And we received representatives of over, of exactly 70, 7-0 countries.
00:52Guests reflected on how the profile of the country supports business.
00:57We have signed a solid portfolio of documents and we are progressing.
01:03The trade is increasing. Trade is almost one billion dollars.
01:06We have set a target to double our trade.
01:09Investments are flowing to each of the country and the businesses working together.
01:16So why Azerbaijan and why now?
01:19Well, if we look at its location, it sits between Europe and Asia, at the crossroads of major east-west
01:26and north-south routes.
01:29But attracting investors, it's not just about its geography.
01:33The challenge is turning the strategic location into infrastructure, opportunity and most crucially, investor confidence.
01:41The Azerbaijan infrastructure investment dialogue was held within the framework of the forum with a representation from some of the
01:48largest investment companies involved in the discussions.
01:51Brookfield has always been a part of the discussion, but today we see a lot more of our peers coming
01:56to the country, coming to the region.
01:58And I think that just goes to show how strong I think Azerbaijan's positioning has become.
02:06Bringing people here, bringing finance leaders from around the world here, will help facilitate the wheels of progress for us
02:16all.
02:18Attendees offered their opinions and thoughts on why the event was so pivotal.
02:23This is a very important event, showcasing on one side what Azerbaijan has done, but you have people from all
02:30over the world and from the region.
02:32There is a huge amount of interest in Baku and Azerbaijan.
02:36Billions of dollars of investment are coming into this region.
02:39This is a dialogue and where business is being done.
02:42The future investment plans for the country that were outlined did not go unnoticed.
02:47I think it's an incredibly important and significant event for the rest of the world to know that Azerbaijan has
02:55a real strategy to be a very connected hub globally,
02:58especially against this highly fragmented global economic trading system.
03:05One of the clear ambitions is diversification.
03:08Industrial zones, manufacturing, agribusiness, tourism and real estate, all focusing on the future and where growth could be encouraged.
03:16The past five years have shown enormous growth.
03:19This year in sales we will break $1 billion, which is phenomenal for a small country with 10 million people.
03:26And this is just in the development sector.
03:28And there's technology.
03:30Artificial intelligence is unavoidable.
03:32How to train the new army of AI engineers and also AI entrepreneurs.
03:39These are our specialty.
03:40These are much needed everywhere in the world.
03:43And we think there's very few places as good as Azerbaijan to land with these technologies and capabilities, creating a
03:53true win-win.
03:54Many of the discussions taking place reflected a desire to diversify as much as possible.
04:01And the country continues to vocalize the importance of developing its economy further.
04:07To move forward, those goals will need to turn into solid partnerships, capable of delivering sustainable, long-term growth.
04:17Azerbaijan is the number 15 board in any country.
04:21Political stability is very important.
04:23The quality and continuity and resilience of the currency in the country.
04:28The capacity to attract foreign direct investment, as I have shown in my data, Azerbaijan is one of the top
04:3510 economies attracting foreign investments in terms of degree of growth with the year before.
04:42And also the security.
04:45As investors reassess where the growth and opportunity is, the message from Baku is that the country is offering itself
04:51as a stable and trusted economic bridge between markets and capital.
