"The West Australian" newspaper: "Perth to Baku: Unlikely match opens doors to Azerbaijan"
Baku, December 7 AZERTAC
"The West Australian" newspaper has published an article titled "Perth to Baku: Unlikely match opens doors to Azerbaijan".
The article highlights similarities between the two cities: "When Perth race driver Daniel Ricciardo careered through the medieval streets of Baku in Azerbaijan this year to take out the Formula One title, some of the locals took it as a personal victory.
The politician's financial, family and social links to Perth are well-known in his home town, and are testimony to the growing ties between the two countries.
The relationship took a step closer last month when Azerbaijan's WA-based honorary consul Aydan Rzaeva and Perth lawyer John Hammond, contracted to help facilitate relations, took 28 WA business people on a trade mission to Baku.
At first glance, it seems positively random to bring together Perth, the world's most isolated city, with a formerly communist country perched more than 10,000km away between the domineering giants of Iran and Russia.
Last year, the unlikely pair were each other's 160th trading partner, with Azerbaijan exporting only a few hundred thousand dollars worth of goods to Australia and importing a few million in products."
The article also says: "In reality, this could not be further from the truth, and there are some striking similarities between Perth and Baku. Both are secular, well-educated societies with a love for good food and wine and a quirky appreciation of Eurovision. But the most important similarity is economic, with the two regions home to the biggest mega-resource projects on the planet.
Over the decades, both cities have come to know — more than just about any other — about the pleasures and pitfalls of a boom and bust resources economy.
The country continued to enjoy double-digit growth for several years thereafter, before dropping to 2.8 per cent in 2014 and -3.1 per cent in 2016, mirroring a similar — though less extreme — downward trend in Perth.
Since 2006, and especially since the oil market crash of 2014, efforts to strengthen the non-oil economy have become as de rigueur in Azerbaijan as Perth's well-worn mantra about diversifying away from iron ore.
It is within these efforts to broaden their economies and their global reach that the two cities are forging a surprising new friendship."
"And it could be the start of something beautiful, with Azerbaijan likely to benefit from WA's expertise in mining as it seeks to exploit its base minerals for the first time, and WA standing to benefit from Azerbaijan because it is, well, rich.
The emergence of a new frontier could not have better timing for WA's many struggling businesses, given Azerbaijan is one of the few countries on the planet set for a big cash injection," according to the article.
"Speaking to the trade delegation, Rovshan Najaf, the executive director of the Azerbaijan Investment Company, says the entity is actively seeking joint venture projects with foreign capital, particularly in pharmaceuticals, machinery, IT and some agricultural products, among other industries.
One of its current projects involves a 25 per cent stake in the Baku Shipyards, in conjunction with Singapore's Keppel Offshore Marine and the State Oil Company.
Najaf claims vocational training for trade workers — which is one of WA's strengths — is the country's greatest area of need. He says Azerbaijan is desperately short of welders and other trades needed for its emerging shipbuilding industry.
Hammond, who is also the president of the Azerbaijani Australian Friendship Association, believes the country's mining sector is a golden opportunity for WA, claiming it can use its expertise to assist Azerbaijan turn "mines into wealth".
"Azerbaijan is rich in rare minerals, copper, gold and ore — many of the deposits were located when Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union," Hammond says.
"Only now since Azerbaijan is seeking to diversify its resources sector has attention been drawn to base metals."
The trade mission also proved successful for Perth-based investors Ibrahim Mohamed Didi and wife Mariyam Shakeela, who announced they will set up an office in Baku to investigate their investment options.
The pair owned a five-star resort in the Maldives, called Kanuhura Resort, before moving to Perth 15 years ago. They have attempted to start luxury resorts in WA's Swan Valley and Nannup three times but eventually gave up when thwarted by overly bureaucratic local government red tape.
Tellingly, Shakeela believes it will be easier to set up a tourism business on the other side of the world in Azerbaijan than in WA.
Dairy is another key opportunity for WA business. Trade delegate Cameron McMurtrie, co-founder of Agribest which exports WA's dairy around the world, says he is now in negotiations with a number of Azerbaijani suppliers.
"Deputy chairman on the Azerbaijani parliament, Valeh Alasgarov, confirms as much when he addresses the trade delegation.
Speaking from the country's parliament house, Alasgarov explains that in a developing nation such as Azerbaijan, the potential for big profits and opportunities comes with big risks. He says investors have to choose whether they want a steady 3 per cent profit in a low-risk country, or the somewhat risky potential for "much more" in Azerbaijan. "In a country like a developing country there are different opportunities," he says.
"Rzaeva says her 24 years in Australia have taught her that Azerbaijan and Australia have similar cultural values.
"Both countries value education, the arts, history. Both are sophisticated people who are warm and outgoing."
Other news in this section
