Mission accomplished for MEB in Azerbaijan

“A significant number of our members want us to take them off the beaten track and propose new destinations that are difficult for them to travel to alone,” Michel Dotta.

The reason why a total of 45 delegates representing 31 companies signed up for this Trade Mission from 6 to 9 November to a country positioned as a gateway to 300 million consumers in the Caucasus region, and ranked 37^th in the global competitiveness ranking[1] by the World Economic Forum.

The country enjoys a certain prosperity thanks to oil reserves exploited for other a century. The fall in oil prices has only served to accelerate the process of diversification to the benefit of the Azerbaijan economy.

Monaco economic stakeholders came to Baku seeking individuals who might be attracted to Monaco to diversify their investments, or to visit and stay there; the DTC represented by its Marketing Director Eric Marsan was of course on the trip. Monaco companies were also there to promote their products: porcelain, jewellery, watches, interior design and art sales, with food products, including olive oil, being among the wide variety of sectors[2] represented by this delegation.

Highlights were meetings between Monegasque and Azerbaijan institutions in the symbolic Baku Business Centre, on 7 November. It was organised by AZPROMO, charged with promoting the country abroad, and attended by Sahil Babayev, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Rufat Mammadov, President of AZPROMO, and Ali-zada Niyaz Anvar Ogly, President of Azerbaijan’s CCI. The 125-strong delegation also attended bilateral presentations by Monaco and Azerbaijan, and the signing of Memorandums of Cooperation: two for the MEB, one with AZPROMO, the other with the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a third between CEREM (Monaco’s Chamber of Renewable Energy and Ecology) and state company, Az Alternative Energy. A total of 300 B-to-B meetings between entrepreneurs from both countries took place in the afternoon.

Many members had meetings with companies based in Baku the following day. Other events included a presentation of the Baku F1 Grand Prix - one of the few to take place in a city centre like Monaco’s – and tour of the redevelopment of an entire district equivalent in area to Monaco’s 2sqkm, the White City Project, proof of this country’s ambitions for its future on a par with the Principality’s land extension on the sea.

The mission paved the way to a whole new terrain for participants, a 4/5 satisfaction rate evidence that initial reports are very positive. A destination to pursue.

Photos (credits Mammad Rahimov)

- Bilateral presentations on 7 November – Mr Dotta (MEB) / Sahil Babayev (Deputy Minister of Economy), Rufat Mammadov (President AZPROMO) / Eric Marsan (DTC)

- B to B meetings between Monegasque and Azerbaijani companies