Hazar Raporu - Issue 02 - Winter 2012
Most of the states of Central Eurasia are landlocked, and they depend on each other’s transportation infrastructure. Building highways, railways, ports, and airports is a necessary part of Azerbaijan’s hub strategy, but it is not a sufficient one. Without a bird’s-eye approach and a coherent policy, which will view all these projects as components of a single strategy, the transportation and infrastructure projects are likely to have outcomes that will be insufficiently efficacious, because they would lack complementarity. For Central Eurasia to produce the “Dubais” and “Singapores” of the 21st century, the compartmentalized regional mindset has to give way to an integrated common vision that will direct each project towards a shared goal. Azerbaijan of 2030 or 2050 will be the product of today’s concept sketches. The core of a successful hub strategy for Azerbaijan must include Free Economic Zones (FEZ) development, on the basis that FEZs are prerequisites for generating trade and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The current FEZ law in Azerbaijan falls short of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) legal framework, effectively utilized by Azerbaijan to promote its oil and gas projects. Although the non-oil sector may not be as attractive or compelling as the oil sector, given the right strategy and incentives, it could still bring in high levels of FDI, with multibillion dollar ventures across various sectors of the non-oil economy. This report recommends focusing on two projects that are directly linked to Azerbaijan’s grand hub strategy and that could generate significant FDI in the non-oil sector and raise the stakes in the country’s FEZ development. This means that the two key projects – the Port of Alyat and Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport – should be incorporated into the FEZ concept, which in turn should be constructed on a flexible and effective legal framework (i.e. Production Sharing Agreement). This approach will produce two marketable projects that could result in a “Contract of the 21 st Century” in Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector, similar to the “Contract of the Century” signed in the energy sector in September 1994. At a regional level, Azerbaijan needs to harmonize its transport strategy with that of neighboring states, particularly Georgia, Turkey and the Central Asian countries along the East-West axis, and Russia and Iran in the North-South direction. Other Key Recommendations Strategic Issues The Azerbaijani government needs to align all its major development projects in the non-oil sector under a single overarching objective. A coherent and integrated vision for Azerbaijan’s future hub must be developed. This strategy or a master plan should integrate and encompass all 110 108
activities linked to the development of ports, airports, highways, FEZs, logistics centers and other strategic transport and non-transport projects. Compartmentalized mindset in different state ministries has to give way to a unified vision that will direct all projects towards a common goal. Roads and Railways To increase the competitiveness of TRACECA corridor, Azerbaijan should work closely with Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, as well as China, the EU and Turkey, in simplifying border crossings and reducing the cost of transportation along this route. All highways of state and international importance in Azerbaijan should be viewed on a different level. A centralized road maintenance regime of highways of international importance is a must. It is critical to extend Azerbaijan’s railway connection in all directions including the North-South. Maritime Transportation Caspian maritime transportation is a key to successful development of international transport corridors via Azerbaijan. The current state of Caspian shipping is far from satisfactory and it requires immediate attention. If the outstanding challenges with maritime shipping and operations are not addressed, Azerbaijan risks losing the maritime trade share in the Caspian Sea in the near future. The Azerbaijani government should consider allowing a private shipping company to run scheduled RO-RO and ferry lines between Baku and Aktau and Baku and Turkmenbashy, therefore increase the traffic of international trucks. Logistics Sector Azerbaijan should act fast and establish its national private logistics company (with government participation) that will provide logistics services to regional and international suppliers inside and outside of Azerbaijan. Russia’s experience with FESCO Transportation Group, Russia’s largest private intermodal transportation group where the Russian State (i.e. Russian Railways) has shares, could serve as a good model. In addition, the government should set up ‘bonded warehouses’ or ‘logistics zones’ along all of its borders, where trucks can unload their cargo for further customs clearance and collection by the clients. Air Transportation The government needs to set clear goals for Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) so that the company can become a CASPIAN REPORT 111 109
- Page 59 and 60: ittifaka dönüşümü, Soğuk Sava
- Page 61 and 62: projeleri ile realize etmeyi hedefl
- Page 63 and 64: çıkan olaylar da enerji jeopoliti
- Page 65 and 66: aşlattığı yeni dış politikas
- Page 67 and 68: Tunus, Mısır, Libya, Körfez ülk
- Page 69 and 70: DEĞERLENDİRMELER Dr. Şener Aktü
- Page 71 and 72: olamadı. 1. Dünya Savaşı’nda,
- Page 73 and 74: Ama Ulusçuluğun, Milliyetçilik o
- Page 75 and 76: E ğer bu çözüm gerçekleşirse,
- Page 77 and 78: ir reaksiyon yaratmıyor, ve yaratm
- Page 79 and 80: olursak, ya da 80-90 senedir Batı
- Page 81 and 82: durumdadır, lideri hapistedir aske
- Page 83 and 84: elden gidiyor gibi bir algı hızla
- Page 85 and 86: kampanyaları yapıldı, kamusal al
- Page 87 and 88: DEĞERLENDİRMELER Prof. Dr. Fuat K
- Page 89 and 90: durması gerekiyor. Türkiye’nin
- Page 91 and 92: seçimlerindeki cumhurbaşkanı de
- Page 93 and 94: unun tam tersi durum yaşanıyor. A
- Page 95 and 96: Sait isyanı da aslında bunun bir
- Page 97 and 98: artık yasak değil, grup toplantı
- Page 99 and 100: yılların organizasyonel deneyimi
- Page 101: hazar strateji enstitüsü H A S E
- Page 104 and 105: Strategic Assessment of Euro-Asian
- Page 106 and 107: to take a free bus tour of Tbilisi
- Page 108 and 109: Azerbaijan: Potential Catalyst for
- Page 112 and 113: member of leading international all
- Page 114 and 115: (CENTO). Five years later, in 1964,
- Page 116 and 117: Caspian states, (bar Turkmenistan,
- Page 118 and 119: To be more specific, a project embr
- Page 120 and 121: from its activities in Russia will
- Page 122 and 123: Obama’s Challenge With Economy Yr
- Page 124 and 125: 14,00 12,00 10,00 8,00 6,00 4,00 2,
- Page 126 and 127: The Aftermath of Georgia’s Parlia
- Page 128 and 129: groups, and the modest ambitions of
- Page 130 and 131: of the state, the essential vector
- Page 132 and 133: Kaladze revealed that all agreement
- Page 134 and 135: hazar strateji enstitüsü H A S E
- Page 136: 136
activities linked to the development of<br />
ports, airports, highways, FEZs, logistics<br />
centers and other strategic transport and<br />
non-transport projects.<br />
Compartmentalized mindset in<br />
different state ministries has to give way to<br />
a unified vision that will direct all projects<br />
towards a common goal.<br />
Roads and Railways<br />
To increase the competitiveness<br />
of TRACECA corridor, Azerbaijan should<br />
work closely with Georgia, Kazakhstan and<br />
Turkmenistan, as well as China, the EU<br />
and Turkey, in simplifying border crossings<br />
and reducing the cost of transportation<br />
along this route.<br />
All highways of state and<br />
international importance in Azerbaijan<br />
should be viewed on a different level. A<br />
centralized road maintenance regime of<br />
highways of international importance is a<br />
must.<br />
It is critical to extend<br />
Azerbaijan’s railway connection in all<br />
directions including the North-South.<br />
Maritime Transportation<br />
Caspian maritime transportation<br />
is a key to successful development of<br />
international transport corridors via<br />
Azerbaijan. The current state of Caspian<br />
shipping is far from satisfactory and<br />
it requires immediate attention. If the<br />
outstanding challenges with maritime<br />
shipping and operations are not addressed,<br />
Azerbaijan risks losing the maritime trade<br />
share in the Caspian Sea in the near future.<br />
The Azerbaijani government<br />
should consider allowing a private<br />
shipping company to run scheduled<br />
RO-RO and ferry lines between Baku<br />
and Aktau and Baku and Turkmenbashy,<br />
therefore increase the traffic of<br />
international trucks.<br />
Logistics Sector<br />
Azerbaijan should act fast and<br />
establish its national private logistics<br />
company (with government participation)<br />
that will provide logistics services to<br />
regional and international suppliers<br />
inside and outside of Azerbaijan. Russia’s<br />
experience with FESCO Transportation<br />
Group, Russia’s largest private intermodal<br />
transportation group where the Russian<br />
State (i.e. Russian Railways) has shares,<br />
could serve as a good model.<br />
In addition, the government<br />
should set up ‘bonded warehouses’ or<br />
‘logistics zones’ along all of its borders,<br />
where trucks can unload their cargo for<br />
further customs clearance and collection<br />
by the clients.<br />
Air Transportation<br />
The government needs to set<br />
clear goals for Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL)<br />
so that the company can become a<br />
CASPIAN REPORT<br />
111 109
Change language