The ICWA organized a Seminar on "India-Azerbaijan Cooperation: Prospects and Challenges" on 3rd December 2009 at New Delhi which was chaired by H.E. Dr. Tamerlan Karayev, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in India and attended by H.E. Mr. Vagief Sadigov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan among other dignitaries.

ICWA invited OIA Chairman, Ambassador V. B. Soni to be on the panel of speakers in a session devoted to “India-Azerbaijan Cooperation in Economic and Energy Sectors”.

We bring you Amb. Soni's exclusive speech at the conference which was well received by the audience:

For us in India when the Zoroastrians came and sought refuge in India millennium back, some of them originating from modern day Azerbaijan they brought with them folk lore of its oil springs and natural gas sources since ancient times. For Parsis as they are now called in India fire is an important symbol, tracing back its origins to those times when their forefathers erected temples around burning gas vents in the ground back home.

It has been my feeling that for some inexplicable reasons India-Azerbaijan relations have never been given the importance these deserve. The huge economic potential that exists in Azerbaijan has not been realized. That country does not yet find its rightful place on the Indian radar screen. The strange thing is that even the enterprising Indian business community which normally sniffs business possibilities to exploit even in remote parts of the world do not seem to have heard of the Eldorado that exists in Azerbaijan.

Most of what ordinary Indians may have heard about that Azerbaijan is that in the backdrop of looming energy crisis there is some hope that when oil starts running out in most of the present oil exporting countries Azerbaijan which is supposed to be sitting on ‘sea of oil' not yet exploited may well give a glimmer of hope to the world.

The common perception is that the direct involvement of the U.S. and Europe in Afghanistan/Pakistan and the Gulf is to ensure safety for the sea lanes that will criss-cross the area transporting oil from principally from Azerbaijan. Their other dubious claim to fame splashed by the Western media pertains to the Nagorno Karabakh imbroglio in which the country has been enmeshed with neighboring Armenia. So it is important to highlight that Azerbaijan deserves better treatment and understanding in India.

For a country of 8.8 million populations living in an area measuring 86,600 sq. km let me trace Azerbaijan's transformation into a potential major player in the energy sector in the decades to come. In the 19th century this part of the Russian empire experienced an unprecedented oil boom which attracted international investment. By the beginning of the 20th century Azerbaijan was supplying almost half of the world's oil.

In September 1994 Azerbaijan signed a 30 year oil contract worth $7.4bn with a Western consortium of 13 companies among them were AMOCO, BP, EXXON, LUKOIL and STATOIL. With their state of the art technology not available during the former Soviet days these Western oil companies are able to tap deepwater oilfields untouched by the Soviet exploitation, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important spots in the world for oil exploration and development.

Azerbaijan's oil production declined through 1997, but has registered an increase every year since then. Negotiation of production-sharing arrangements (PSAs) with foreign firms, which have committed $60 billion to long-term oilfield development, should generate the funds needed to spur future industrial development. Oil production under the first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, began in November 1997.

A consortium of Western oil companies built a $4 billion pipeline from Baku to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) became operational in May 2006 and extends more than 1,774 kilometers through the territories of Azerbaijan (440 km), Georgia (260 km) and Turkey (1114 km). The BTC is designed to transport up to 50 million tons of crude oil annually and carries oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets.

The South Caucasus Pipeline, also stretching through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, became operational at the end of 2006 and offers additional gas supplies to the European market from the Shah Deniz gas field . It is expected to produce up to 296 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. Azerbaijan also plays a major role in the EU-sponsored Silk Road Project.

Apart from the West countries like Japan and China have already been in Azerbaijan staking their stakes in the energy gold mine for the future. But where are the TATAS, ESSARS, AMBANIS or ONGC? Even for the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline construction Indians were seen working on the ground as laborers to the gulf based construction companies. Not many companies from India showed any active interest in participating in that process. Even now they can explore the possibilities by their physical presence.

Let me now turn to non-energy sectors which showed double digit growth in 2008. This in turn spurred growth in construction and real estate in Azerbaijan that may be of interest to Indian business communities to exploit their potential over an above the pipeline related construction.

Another sector one can look to is agriculture. Azerbaijan has 4,755,100 hectares of utilized agricultural land. Its agricultural scientific research institutes are focused on meadows and pastures, horticulture and subtropical crops, green vegetables , viticulture and wine-making , cotton growing and medicinal plants In some lands it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beets, cotton and tobacco. Related to it is the food processing/canning industry which Indians can help set up. I am sure Azerbaijan would encourage Indian participation in any of these fields.

The Caspian fishing industry is concentrated on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. In 2002 the Azerbaijani merchant marine had 54 ships. Indian trawlers with refrigeration and canning facilities are bound to find interested parties in that country.

IT sector which is the pride of India has hardly made any breakthrough in a country which needs to develop it. Computer skills have yet to be learnt at school/college level by Azerbaijan youngsters. NIIT, APTECH and AMITY have their work cut out.

Health sector and pharmaceuticals sectors are crying out for Indian company's attention. Some Indian pharmacy products are reaching the country through indirect sources. There should be physical presence of companies like RANBAXY, CADILLA, REDDY's etc.

Let me conclude by saying that it is still not late for India to give the attention, importance and seriousness which a country like Azerbaijan deserves. It is for us to have increased exchange of visits at the level of people to people, businessmen academicians, cultural delegations, sports teams, politicians and Government officials.