World Economic Forum in Baku – was held in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

(

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

) on April 7-8, 2013. “Strategic dialogue on the future of the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

” was the theme of the forum.В Баку пройдет Всемирный экономический форум
/ref> More than 200 representatives of business sphere, administration and civil organizations took part at the forum.

Selection of the venue

General agreement about holding of the World Economic Forum in Baku was signed on January 23, 2013 in Swiss Davos, during the meeting of

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

, the President of Azerbaijani Republic and

Klaus Schwab Klaus Martin Schwab (; born 30 March 1938) is a German engineer, economist and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF). He has acted as the WEF's chairman since founding the organisation in 1971. Life Schwab was born to Eugen Wilhelm Schw ...

, executive chairman of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Aims and targets

Discussion of issues on development of industrial, mineral resources, transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, finance, telecommunication and other sectors was the main goal of the World Economic Forum held in Baku, the main theme of which was “Strategic dialogue on the future of the South Caucasus and Central Asia”. Forum will be an evaluation platform of main problems and opportunities related to the future of the region and also will contribute to development of cooperation and integration in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Program of the forum

Program of the World Economic Forum in Baku consisted of 6 sessions: * Opening session * Session on the theme of: “Energy and mineral resources: opportunities and challenges, moving ahead” * Session on the theme of: “Entrepreneurship and human capital” * Session on the theme of: “Finance and long-term investing” * Session on the theme of: “Trade and delivery chain” * Session on the theme of: “Vision of Azerbaijan: Towards the new economy”

Activity of the forum

Voting

A voting-survey about the future of the South Caucasus and Central Asia was carried out during the forum. According to the results, 62,3% of participants voted for integration of regions, 22% for fragmentation and 15,7% for polarization.

Seminar

On April 7, 2013, the first day of the forum, a seminar called “Media and communication with public for a global youth project” was held. Paulette Hebert – representative of “Around the Rings” sport portal in the Near East and Ed Hula – editor and founder of “Around the Rings” spoke in the seminar.

Participants

–

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of Azerbaijan. The Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of executive power, commander-in-chief, "representative of Azerbaijan in home and foreign policies", ...

Taner Yıldız Taner Yıldız (born 3 April 1962 in Devecipınar, Boğazlıyan, Yozgat Province) is a Turkish politician. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party and served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources between 2009 and 2015. T ...

– Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Algirdas Butkevičius Algirdas Butkevičius (born 19 November 1958) is a Lithuanian politician and was Prime Minister of Lithuania, serving between 2012 and 2016. He also served as the Minister of Finance from 2004 to 2005 and the Minister of Transport and Communicati ...

– Prime Minister of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Sali Berisha Sali Ram Berisha (; born 15 October 1944) is an Albanian conservative politician and former cardiologist who served as the second President of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013. He is also the current chairman of t ...

– Prime Minister of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger brother of King Charles III and the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince ...

Gordan Jandroković Gordan Jandroković (born 2 August 1967) is a Croatian diplomat and politician serving as Speaker of the Croatian Parliament since 2017. He previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration from 2008 to 2011, and as Deputy ...

– Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Giorgi Kvirikashvili Giorgi Kvirikashvili ( ka, გიორგი კვირიკაშვილი; born 20 July 1967) is a Georgian politician who was Prime Minister of Georgia from 30 December 2015 to 13 June 2018. Prior to that he was Minister of Economy and ...

– Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Davit Narmania Davit Narmania ( ka, დავით ნარმანია; born 7 March 1979) is a Georgian politician and the former Mayor of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, from 2014 to 2017. An economist with academic background, he was Minister of Regio ...

– Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia * Luvsanvandan Bold – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia * Bakhytjan Sagintayev – Deputy Prime Minister of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Djoomart Otorbaev Djoomart Otorbaev ( born 18 August 1955) was the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan. On 25 March 2014 he replaced Zhantoro Satybaldiyev as acting prime minister until a new government was formed. On 3 April 2014, he was officially named prime minister. O ...

– First Deputy Prime Minister of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

Andrey Kostin Andrey Leonidovich Kostin (russian: Андрей Леонидович Костин; born September 21, 1956) is a Russian banker who is chairman of the VTB Management board since June 10, 2002. Education and career In 1973, Kostin began studi ...

– chairman and executive director of VTB bank of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

* Frederick Star – Chairman of “Central Asia and Caucasus Institution” of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

* Victor Halberstadt – Professor of

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

* Gordon Birell – regional president of BP in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey * J. Carl Ganter – managing director
Circle of Blue
* Peter Sannikov – vice-president of the

Russian Direct Investment Fund The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 by the Russian government to make investments in companies of high-growth sectors of the Russian economy. Its mandate is to co-invest alongside the wo ...

References

{{Reflist Economy of Azerbaijan 2010s in Baku 2013 in Azerbaijan 2013 in economics