Azerbaijan's economic potential

This week we hosted a Roundtable on Azerbaijan with Peter Bateman, HM Ambassador in Baku. The event proved how the BRICs face fierce competition from smaller, but attractive, emerging markets. Azerbaijan has almost twice the population of Scotland, a $30 billion sovereign wealth fund and a real GDP growth rate for 2011 of 3.7% p.a. The United Kingdom is the largest single foreign investor, worth more than half the total, and UK-based companies are in pole position to provide more goods and services to this growing market.

Some 25 firms heard how Azerbaijan’s economic development and regional ambitions mean a major market with a total GDP of $90 billion was looking to modernise, diversify and develop – with their help. The Ambassador was joined by TheCityUK members from banks, exchanges, advisory firms, insurers, law firms, accountants and investors.  

This is not an event that you would have seen on a forward calendar, it was one that we put together at short notice and entirely in-house.