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Doing business & staying in touch

Economy: 

Azerbaijan's economy is centered on its large oil and gas industry. Most of the reserves are located in the Caspian Sea basin and the Azeri government has signed a number of major deals with a variety of consortia for the exploration and development of various offshore fields. A pipeline transporting Azeri oil directly to the Mediterranean for transport to European and US markets began delivery in 2006. In the last few years, the contribution of the service sector (especially transport, telecommunications and trade-related activities) has grown sharply and now accounts for a large part of the economy.

Inflation was at 16.6% in 2007, with unemployment at 4.3% and growth at 25%.

GDP: 

US$31.32 billion (2007).

Main exports: 

Oil and oil products, gas, cotton.

Main imports: 

Machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals and foodstuffs.

Main trading partners: 

Italy, Israel, Georgia, Russia and Turkey.

Staying in touch in Azerbaijan

Telephone: 

International calls from Azerbaijan may be dialed directly from Baku and some other towns throughout the country.

Mobile phone: 

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is mostly limited to the capital and main towns and is non-existent in many mountain areas.

Internet: 

Available in all cities and towns.

Post: 

International postal services are sometimes disrupted. Delays occur, although letters should normally take 10 to 14 days to arrive. Parcels should be registered or sent by courier services to accelerate the process and ensure against loss.

Media: 

There are a number of state-run and public media outlets that compete with private and opposition publications and private broadcasters. Despite official freedom of speech, the Azeri media is tightly controlled and very self-censoring.

Press: 

• Newspapers include Azadliq, Ekho and Zerkalo (in Russian and English).
• The government daily is Azarbaycan.
• The English-language newspaper is Baku-Sun.

Television: 

• The state broadcaster has two national networks, Azerbaijan TV and Public TV.
• Private stations include Space TV and Lider TV.

Radio: 

• There is a state broadcaster with two national networks, Azerbaijan Radio 1 and Azerbaijan Radio 2.
• Private-run FM stations include ANS ChM, Radio Lider and Radio Azad Azerbaijan.

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