AZERBAIJAN
The Challenge
Rarely do the forces of globalization allow individual nations the chance to decide their respective
economic destiny. Yet with the opening of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline in May 2005, the people
of Azerbaijan received a chance to mark their place in a competitive world.
From its inception, the BTC Pipeline project was a lightning rod of public attention and criticism.
Civil society groups worldwide questioned the willingness of energy companies to agree to equitable
distribution of the benefits from using Azerbaijan’s abundant energy resources. Decades of political
repression compelled others to conclude that Azerbaijani government officials would be the only people
to benefit. Still others cited repeated examples where energy-rich countries failed to prosper from the
presence of extractive industries. It was clear that an open discussion on how to correctly manage the
process of integration could provide a timely intellectual underpinning for the Azerbaijani people as
they move forward in making important choices about their future.
How GFI Addressed the Challenge
In June 2005 GFI initiated the Azerbaijan Working Group to serve as an independent council of NGOs
and think tanks bound together by common concern and impending focus. The Working Group consisted of the
following members: The Global Fairness Initiative (GFI);the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), USA, The
Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation (IEAC), Ukraine; The Aspen Institute Berlin, Germany, the French
Institute for International Relations, the Community Housing Finance (CHF) Foundation, Baku; the Friedrich
Naumann Stiftung, Baku; The Centre for International Relations, Poland;Tesev, Turkey; IMI, Ukraine; and the
INAM Center for Pluralism, Baku.
Through a series of meetings and conferences, the Azerbaijan Working Group engaged key stakeholders
from various sectors and institutions to address Azerbaijan’s most pressing economic concerns in a
comprehensive manner. Their work assessed the technical, economic, political and social aspects of
Azerbaijan’s growth agenda. Guided by the intellectual output gained from these engagements, future
Azerbaijan Working Group efforts will concentrate on the following areas:
Implementation of the State Oil Funds: Linking Pipeline Wealth to Local Development
Improving Azerbaijan’s Investment Climate: Transparency versus Corruption
Economic Alternatives for Azerbaijan: Developing the Non-Oil Economy
Azerbaijan and its Neighbors: Economic integration with Europe, Russia, and the Middle East