SWEDISH ENERGY AND TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DELEGATION TO AZERBAIJAN

Transcription

1 INVITATION, PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME & REGISTRATION FORM SWEDISH ENERGY AND TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DELEGATION TO AZERBAIJAN BAKU, AZERBAIJAN, 8-10 NOVEMBER 2017 EXPLORE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND STRENGTHEN YOUR CONTACTS WITH KEY PLAYERS IN THE ENERGY AND TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS OF AZERBAIJAN. WE TARGET MAIN SUBSEGMENTS: POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ELECTRICITY - GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION; TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE ROAD, RAIL AND MARINE INFRASTRUCTURE

2 INVITATION SWEDISH ENERGY AND TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DELEGATION TO AZERBAIJAN 2017 HEADED BY OSCAR STENSTRÖM, STATE SECRETARY TO THE MINISTER FOR EU AFFAIRS AND TRADE, BAKU, 8-10 NOVEMBER, 2017 Business Sweden, in collaboration with the Embassy of Sweden in Baku invites you to participate in a two day delegation programme on November 8-10, 2017, in Baku focusing on the business opportunities in the energy and transport sector of Azerbaijan BACKGROUND The Republic of Azerbaijan is a country located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East and a major economic player in the Caucasus region due to its great oil and natural gas reserves. It is an economy in transition, where the State continues to play a dominant role. With the help of the IMF, Azerbaijan pursued an economic stabilisation programme since the end of the 1990s. Coupled with the oil boom, this led to an average GDP growth rate of 21% in Since then, this rate has continued to falter and the international situation put an end to the double-digit growth of the 'Emirate of the Caspian'. Oil and gas account for about three-quarters of Azerbaijan's state revenues and 45% of gross domestic product, so the slump in crude prices since mid-2014 has hit the country particularly hard. In 2016, for the first time since 1995, the Azeri economy contracted (-2.4%), due to declining oil revenues and difficulties experienced by Russia, a key trade partner. A 1.4% growth rate is predicted for The flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Azerbaijan have been rising steadily in recent years and are mainly directed to the energy sector. In 2016, FDI flows reached USD 5.4 billion. The biggest share of the foreign investment is directed to the oil and gas sector. Nevertheless, one of the top priorities of the government is to diversify the country s economy and to attract foreign investors, in particular in the following sectors: agriculture, transportation, tourism and information/communication technology. Azerbaijan is ranked 65 th (out of 190 economies) in the World Bank's 2016 Doing Business report. Dealing with construction permits, getting electricity and securing credits are where the country lags behind the most. Meanwhile, despite the fact that oil remains a key driver of the GDP, the non-oil sector is rapidly growing in Azerbaijan. Thus, non-oil growth was 8.4% in 2015 and was largely driven by information technology and telecommunication, non-oil industrial production, and transportation. 1

3 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Power generation, transmission and distribution On December 6, 2016, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a Decree endorsing Strategic road maps for the national economy and main economic sectors. The Decree aims to define the country s development goals and priorities and ensure their implementation, while includes, among others, the Strategic Road Map for the development of utilities (electricity and thermal energy, water and gas supply) in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Power sector of Azerbaijan includes 14 thermal and 17 hydropower plants. The installed capacity of the power system accounts for more than 7 GW. The total length of high-voltage lines is about 9,590 km. The power grid allows Azerbaijan to enhance its electricity export capacity. To realise this, Azerbaijan plans several major projects, including the Energy Bridge Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, which will allow Azerbaijan to export to Europe about 700 megawatts of electricity a year. In regards to the alternative energy, currently its share in the total energy production exceeds 7%. By 2020, the country plans to increase this figure up to 20%. Following a drop in oil and natural gas output, the Ministry of Energy and Industry announced in January 2013 the country s plans to attract over USD 7 billion investments in alternative energy by 2020, and increase total renewables capacity to 2,000 MW, which composes about 20% of the nation s overall power needs. State Programmes in the sector: Rational Use of Energy Resources and Energy Efficiency of End Users programme, Development of Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources programme, Socio-economic development of regions programme, Construction of TPP with the 920 MW generating capacity within Yashma region Power Distribution Enhancement Investment programme ( ) with the total cost of USD 1 billion, including ADB s loan of USD 750 million Rehabilitation and expansion of aging medium- and low-voltage distribution networks including 110 kilovolt (kv) substations (15 units), 35 kv substations (52 units), 6 10 kv transformer stations (4,004 units); 110 kv distribution lines (150 km), 35 kv distribution lines (400 km), and 6 10 kv distribution lines (2,600 km) Replacement of 0.4 kv customer service lines (10,154 km) including installation of new smart meters (about 300,000) Construction of Yashma Thermal Power Plant, Agh Sheher Combined Heat and Power Plant in Construction of new 3 Combined Cycle Power Plants during the period Transport Infrastructure Azerbaijan is positioning itself as a transport hub for East-West trade in the region. Currently, the extent of the country's transport network is still underdeveloped, while the quality of road and rail is below par, meaning businesses will likely face supply chain delays on inland routes and significant congestion on the overused road networks. In the long run, the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) will provide faster and more cost-effective multimodal links between Russia, India, Iran, Azerbaijan and other countries located along the route, boosting trade competitiveness and allowing investors to benefit from Azerbaijan's potential as a trade transit hub. The total road network consists of 52,942 km of which roughly 50.6% is paved, 47% is gravel and 2% is dirt track. In the short term the government plans to have constructed, upgraded and rehabilitated about 9,500 km of 121 roads, comprising 3,570 km of 63 state roads and 5,928 km of 58 secondary roads. 2

4 In 2013, Azerbaijan launched the Azerbaijan 2020: Look into the Future concept, with the focus on the creation of transport infrastructure and transit of goods and passengers as an alternative to the oil sector. The completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Alat Port, if coupled with improved trade facilitation policies, would position Azerbaijan as a viable transit route for trade between East, Central, and South Asia and Europe. The largest amount of non-oil investments, both foreign and domestic, is being attracted to Azerbaijan s transport sector. Examples of roads renovation projects: Continuation of reconstruction and rehabilitation of highways according to the State Programme on socioeconomic development of regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan for In March 2016, the World Bank approved a USD 140 million loan for the additional financing for the Third Highway Project to complete upgrading of the Baku Shamakhi road sections by expanding them from two to four lanes under the State Program on socio-economic development of regions Several other road renovation projects are planned to meet the increasing demand in the improved road transport infrastructure Examples of railroads renovation projects: The most significant transportation project in Azerbaijan is the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway. The project includes construction of a 98-km Kars-Akhalkalaki railway, of which 68 km will run through Turkey and 30 km through Georgia. Reconstruction of the 183-km Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi section is also underway and nearing completion. The peak of the corridor s transport capacity will be approximately 17 million tons per year. The transportation service is expected to start in 2017 North South Transport Corridor (NSTC) route through Azerbaijan allows India-Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia- Kazakhstan transport connectivity. On January 7, 2017, it was announced that construction on the Rasht- Astara section would start in The Asian Development Bank expects the feasibility study for evaluation of the project on financing of the North-South Railway Corridor to be ready by August, 2017 Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) will invest USD 400 million in the acquisition of rolling stock cars and locomotives estimating to buy 50 locomotives for freight and passenger transport by The rolling stock fleet of Azerbaijan Railways will further expand in the near future and delays in transport will be eliminated In April 2016, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan signed agreement on the establishment of a joint venture to provide transport on the Trans-Caspian route. Until 2020, the Trans-Caspian corridor will have capacity of 300, ,000 containers In 2016, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania also signed a memorandum on the development of Europe-Asia- Europe transport corridor, via de Port of Constanta and the Port of Batumi According to the Development of the Baku Metro and State Programme on Baku Metro Development schemes, 53 new metro stations and 84.3 km metro lines will be built until 2030 Examples of marine area projects Baku International Sea Trade Port started construction of a new port in the Alyat district in order to meet the demand of increased trade and transportation. The new port will provide services for general cargo as well as passenger terminals. The funds directed to the implementation of all three phases of the port construction are expected to reach USD million. In general, the first phase is planned to be completed by late During the first phase, the port will have capacity for 10 million tons of cargo, increasing to 25 million tons in the third phase 3

5 KEY MARKET PLAYERS Currently, Azerbaijani energy and transport infrastructure sectors represented by both private stakeholders and national giants such as SOCAR, Azerenergy OJSC, Baku International Sea Trade Port JSC, Baku Shipyard LLC JV, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, Baku Metropolitan CJSC and Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC. SOCAR is the national integrated energy company of Azerbaijan. It is 100 % state-owned and it holds stakes in all the major producing fields, operates the country's two refineries and owns most of the transport and retail infrastructure Azerenergy JSC is the state power engineering enterprise operating within energy production, distribution and wholesale Baku International Sea Trade Port JSC is the driving force behind Azerbaijan s port and logistics development, taking on the roles of port authority, port planner and national port representative in order to advance and safeguard Azerbaijan s strategic maritime activities Baku Shipyard LLC joint venture is an integrated shipyard providing shipbuilding, ship repair, and conversion and engineering services. Its shareholders are SOCAR (65%), Azerbaijan Investment Company (25%) and Keppel Offshore & Marine (10%) The railway sector is represented by Azerbaijan Railways CJSC and its subsidiaries, while metro is managed by Baku Metropolitan CJSC. These companies are 100% state-owned Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC is the largest national air carrier, which also manages the Heydar Aliyev International airport (the busiest airport in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus) and five other international airports within the country Programme The detailed delegation programme will be developed during September 2017 based on the feedback from key market players in Azerbaijan as well as the Swedish companies interested in attending the delegation. Examples of activities that may be included in the official programme are as follows: High level meetings with Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC and other key stakeholders High level meetings and site visits with key public/private market players in Azerbaijan Individual B2B and B2G meetings sessions with key private / public players Individual B2B meetings with potential partners Promotional Seminar & Business Forum presentations of Swedish solutions designed for key public and private market players and stakeholders Networking reception arranged by Business Sweden in cooperation with the Embassy of Sweden in Azerbaijan Participation fees The participation fee is SEK excluding VAT for companies with a turnover of more than 100 MSEK or more than 50 employees SEK excluding VAT for companies with a turnover of less than 100 MSEK and less than 50 employees For additional participants, the participation fee is SEK excluding VAT per person regardless of company turnover and / or number of employees 4

6 REGISTRATION FORM SWEDISH ENERGY AND TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DELEGATION TO AZERBAIJAN 2017 BAKU, AZERBAIJAN, 8-10 NOVEMBER, 2017 Date: 8-10 November, 2017 Location: Baku, Azerbaijan Participation fee: SEK / company / participant (SEK for companies with less than 50 employees and a turnover of less than EUR 10 million that are not part of a larger company/group of companies) Fee for additional participants from the same company: SEK / one person I hereby register for the Swedish Energy and Transport Infrastructure Delegation to Azerbaijan 2017 Additional participants will attend, number of persons The price includes: transfer from/to airport, transportation to/from hotel to designated meetings in the program, company brochure featuring all Swedish participants, networking activities and meals as mentioned in the program. The price does not include: entry visa (if required), international and domestic flight tickets, transportation not mentioned in the program, meals other than specified, accommodation cost. Business Sweden s General Conditions for Participation in Joint Export Activities (June 2011) are enclosed Registrations to be received no later than October 12, 2017 at Kassym.Baimukhametov@business-sweden.se Company: Corporate ID: Invoicing address: Postal Code: City: Phone/Switchboard: Name 1: Title: /Mobile: Name 2: Title: /Mobile: Contact Person: /mobile: Date: Signature: 5