BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 19. The Multilateral
Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) is ready to
support new projects to be presented from Azerbaijan, Senior
Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of MCDF, Ayumi Konishi, told
Trend on the
sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development
Bank (IsDB) Group held in Baku.
According to him, Azerbaijan plays an important role in the
development of regional cooperation as an important connecting
country connecting Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
“We are already supporting Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea Green Energy
Corridor project. Overall, I believe that Azerbaijan’s role is
extremely important. The country is one of the main bridges
connecting Europe with the Caucasus and Central Asia. Azerbaijan’s
contribution to the development of this cooperation is clearly
visible,” he said.
Konishi noted that MCDF hopes that Azerbaijan will continue to
play an active role in the development of the Middle Corridor,
which strengthens the connection between Europe and Asia.
“We have already allocated a grant of $1.05 million to finance
feasibility studies related to the development of the Caspian Sea
Green Energy Corridor. At the same time, we are ready to consider
and support new projects that will be submitted from Azerbaijan,”
he emphasized.
According to the senior advisor, the main direction of MCDF’s
activity is to promote the development of high-quality connecting
infrastructure.
“Our priority areas are transport and trade facilitation,
energy, water resources management, and digital connectivity. In
the energy sector, we already support the Caspian Green Energy
Corridor project. In addition, if Azerbaijan wants to cooperate
with other countries on issues such as protecting the water quality
of the Caspian Sea, we can work together in this direction,” said
Konishi.
He added that there is great potential for expanding cooperation
between MCDF and Azerbaijan in each of the above four areas.
