From Energy Hub to Investment Hub: Azerbaijan’s Vision Shines at 2nd International Investment Forum
During the 2nd Azerbaijan International Investment Forum, Azerbaijan demonstrated to the world an economy that is no longer dependent on oil and gas, and a government with a clear plan for what it expects from foreign investment.
The forum was organised by the Ministry of Economy and AZPROMO, with The European House – Ambrosetti as the strategic partner, under the auspices of President Ilham Aliyev, in Baku, on September 25–26. It was not without significant thought that its theme was selected: “Rebuilding Trust in a Fragmented World: The South Caucasus as a Pillar of Global Connectivity and Investment Stability”. When the world’s trade routes were being stressed and investors were looking for stability, Baku provided them with both the stability and a definite program.
This turned out to be a more than two day event. It was a bold declaration on the path to the future of Azerbaijan’s economy.
Ambition
This programme in itself was the story of a changed economy. All the sectors of the economy, including the Middle Corridor, energy, green transition, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation, industry, free economic zones, critical raw materials, agribusiness, financial cooperation, tourism, and human capital, were discussed on a single platform. This would have been unthinkable in the so far hydrocarbon based economy.
The government is also benefiting from best practice. In 2025, over 1,000 people attended the first forum and resulted in investment pledges of more than $10 billion. Of this total, over $7 billion was spent on the non-oil sector. The investment strategy is maturing and this year has placed a greater emphasis on real projects and future partnerships rather than on individual transactions.
Diversification Delivered, Not Just Promised
President Aliyev’s speech to participants was based on achievements. The non-oil sector’s real GDP growth since 2020 is 5% annually on average. Non-oil industry has expanded by 1.5 times and non-oil exports have almost doubled. The non-oil sector took up 72% of GDP in 2025.
These are the signs of a true paradigm change. The government has left the financial muscle gained through oil and gas intact whilst the rest of the economy has expanded more quickly. It has been decades since many resource-rich countries began talking about diversification. Azerbaijan has been steadily making progress toward it.
The President has also outlined the advantages that the country provides to investors, including its strategic location, its transport and logistics capabilities, the infrastructure in its economic zones, tax and customs advantages, public-private partnership mechanisms and joint investment funds with partner countries.
Capital With a Purpose
The most impressive one that came out of Baku was the desire of Azerbaijan to go beyond monetary terms. As the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev insisted:
We don’t want just investors; we value technology, expertise, innovation and access to new markets, and we want partnerships that generate sustainable value for investors, and increase the modernisation and competitiveness of Azerbaijan’s economy.
The essence of foreign investment is technology transfer, technology creation, the increase of production capacity, the increase of productivity and the opening of markets for Azerbaijani companies. The government has promoted the exchange of management know-how and international relations as national resources, thus elevating its investment model to a higher level.
It also relates directly to a bigger ambition – being more deeply connected to global value chains. The President’s focus on manufacturing, trade, energy, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence and advanced technologies reflects his strong desire to ensure the integration of Azerbaijan into regional production and service value chains.
Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads of East-West and North-South trade, and the regime is making the most of it. The Middle Corridor is a route that connects Central Asia with the South Caucasus and Europe via the Caspian Sea. Together with the prospects of the TRIPP route, it could make the country an indispensable regional logistics hub.
During the forum, the Middle Corridor received a special session dedicated to the trade and industrial and connectivity potential of the Middle Corridor. It’s a decision made in the wake of the importance of connectivity in the investment proposition of Baku, and the government’s investment in the infrastructure to support it.
Green Energy Connector
Azerbaijan has been a reliable energy partner for a long time. Now, its government’s sights are higher. President Aliyev explained:
Our vision goes beyond the energy supply and is now to build green energy corridors for the integration of renewable energy into the regional markets and to enhance the connectivity between Azerbaijan, the wider South Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe.
This increases the country’s geographical and economic footprint of its energy policy. In addition to the proven oil and gas facilities, investment opportunities in the renewable power market in the region are becoming available. Energy is now connecting and creating new value chains as much as being an export commodity.
Industry, Resources and Regional Renewal
Manufacturing is gaining more importance in the national investment agenda. Long-Term Projects can be attracted: Modern infrastructure, Industrial parks, Alat Free Economic Zone and Public-Private Partnerships. Critical raw materials and mining are rising in importance too, underlined by the forum’s session on “Critical Raw Materials and Global Economic Security.”
The President also identified reconstruction and development in liberated territories of Azerbaijan as an area of interest for investors. This is an important step, it brings opportunity to different parts of the country, welcomes people from around the world to participate in a never-before-seen process of rebuilding.
Peace as a Foundation
The most encouraging takeout from the forum was the issue of the region itself. As President Aliyev says:
The new peace in the South Caucasian nations is providing new opportunities for the region’s cooperation, connectivity, trade and investments, and will facilitate further economic integration and diversification.
This contributes to the economic vision of Azerbaijan, which is more comprehensive, covering the whole region. Stability leads to investment and investment contributes to stability.
Robustness and Continuity
It is not just the agreements that were signed that make the Baku forum significant. The most important thing is what Azerbaijan looks like today. This is not merely an economy asking for investment.This is not just an economy that’s begging for investment money. It is creating an energy platform of energy resources, transport infrastructure, geographic position, a robust non-oil economy, green energy potential and regional connectivity.
It is no longer a question of how much capital will be received, it is a question of the added value of that capital. Success is now driven by technology, productivity, new factories, new skills, exports and access to new markets. It’s a trend that’s clearly reflected in Azerbaijan’s investment policy.
The Government of Azerbaijan deserves credit for this clarity of vision and consistency of delivery. It is maintaining the power of the energy industry, boosting the non-oil economy, making geography work for it and matching foreign investment with knowledge and markets. No other country in the region has charted its economic course with such ambition or has begun to attract investors from abroad in this way.
