KUALA LUMPUR: Azerbaijan is banking on investments from Malaysia to boost its renewable energy production and rebuild the Karabakh region that it liberated from the Armenian forces in 2020.
The Foreign Ministries of both countries are expected to hold their first-ever political consultations here today.
Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said he would present 25 investment projects to his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, during the session.
"Azerbaijan gets 17 per cent of its energy from renewable sources and we plan to push that to 30 per cent by 2030.
"The Karabakh region alone can generate more than 10,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy that includes about 7,000 MW of solar power and 2,000 MW of wind power.
"Additionally, offshore winds from the Caspian Sea could generate up to 157 gigawatts of renewable energy.
"Since Malaysia has similar ambitions to develop renewable energy sources, the liberated Karabakh territories could offer new opportunities to Malaysian companies," he said during a media engagement session at the Azerbaijan embassy here yesterday.
Armenian occupied the Karabakh region and most of Azerbaijan's territories surrounding the area after the First Karabakh War in 1994.
More than one million Azerbaijan people were displaced as refugees, one of the highest numbers of refugees per capita in the world.
Armenian forces also destroyed 65 out of 67 mosques in the occupied territories.
However, Azerbaijan regained control over most of Karabakh, including the region's second-largest city, Shusha, following the 44-day war (Second Karabakh War) in September 2020.
Elnur said Azerbaijan spent US$1.3 billion for restoration work in the liberated territories last year and had allocated another US$1.5 billion this year.
This, he said, included large-scale construction work to rebuild public infrastructures, such as railroads and highways, in the territories.
"Malaysia and Azerbaijan, in the spirit of ummah, will also undertake joint projects to reconstruct mosques in the Karabakh region.
"Agriculture is another avenue for cooperation between both countries, given that the region has good potential for agriculture cultivation.
"In fact, besides crude oil, another major export item from Azerbaijan to Malaysia is pomegranate sauce."
Elnur said the total trade turnover between Malaysia and Azerbaijan currently stood at US$77 million.
Malaysia, he said, would benefit from a new transport corridor that would serve as an alternative trade route to the Suez Canal.
"Azerbaijan sits in the middle of two major trade routes, namely the North-South Transport Corridor that starts from Finland and ends in India and the East-West Project that connects China to Europe through the Caspian Sea.
"At the end of the Second Karabakh War, Armenia agreed on the construction of a new transport corridor that will connect Azerbaijan to Armenia, the enclaved Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and eventually Turkey.
"This shorter route will cut transport costs for goods to reach Europe and will boost global trade.
"Malaysia has a sizeable trade relationship with the European Union (EU) and primarily uses the Suez Canal to transport goods to Europe.
"But, the Suez Canal is not a very reliable trade route, as we have seen during the 'Ever Given' ship blockage incident last year.
"So, Azerbaijan's new transport corridor will definitely benefit Malaysia and other countries with east-west trade links.
"On our part, we have constructed 60km out of the 120km of railroads and motorways that connect Azerbaijan to Armenia for the corridor. The remaining will be completed by the end of 2023.
"Unfortunately, Armenia has not started work yet on this though the corridor will greatly benefit the landlocked country," he said.
Separately, Elnur said cultural events, movie festivals and flash mobs would be held to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Azerbaijan next year.
Apart from investing in joint education and humanitarian initiatives, Elnur said Azerbaijan also wants to step up inter-parliamentary engagement with Malaysia.
"Malaysia and Azerbaijan have traditionally supported each other in international forums, such as the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
"As such, it is important to keep our bilateral ties at a high momentum," he said.