Envoy upbeat on Baku Olympic bid prospects
Originally published in Gulf Times on November 29, 2007
THE prospects of Baku winning the 2016 Olympic bid over other candidate cities are very bright, Azerbaijan Ambassador Eldar N Salimov said.
Doha, Rio De Janeiro, Madrid, Prague and Tokyo are the other hopefuls for the sporting event.
Giving the reasons for Baku’s anticipated success, Salimov said Brazil had recently won the FIFA World Cup 2014 bid. Some analysts have termed the chances ‘slim’ for Madrid and Prague, both European cities, since IOC observes a “continent rotation” policy.
The 2012 Olympics will be held in London and Tokyo has already hosted global sporting events.
“So it comes down to Baku and Doha, both rising economies and emerging global players. Baku has a slight edge over Doha, since the weather in Azerbaijan capital is pleasant during the time summer Olympics are usually held,” Salimov told Gulf Times.
Even though the Eurasian state of Azerbaijan, considered by some as the true gateway to both Asia and Europe is semiarid for most of its region, Baku, located on the oil-rich Caspian Sea makes up for it by offering a moderate climate.
The “feverish” competition between the two friendly nations will be only on the sports front, though. Both countries have recently moved forward to strengthen bilateral relations in trade, politics and culture.
According to Salimov, Qatar is opening an embassy in his country sometime next year and organising more cross-cultural activities.
The two countries have already signed bilateral agreements on protection of investments, avoidance of double taxation, trade and technical co-operation, and air services.
“The chambers of commerce, representing major business communities in both countries have reached different MoUs (Memorandum of Understandings),” the diplomat said.
Azerbaijan was an independent democratic state from 1918-1920. During the Bolshevik Revolution, the country was made a part of the USSR until the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991.
“We have only had 16 years since gaining independence from USSR and we need a few more to completely get away from a communist way of life to a free market system,” pointed out Salimov, who is the first ambassador of the predominantly Muslim country to Doha.
The country, with abundant energy resources, borders Russia, Iran, Turkey, Georgia, Caspian Sea and Armenia.
Education and health are heavily subsidised by the government, with private enterprises filling the gaps where needed.
The hydrocarbon reserves in the region were discovered in the beginning of the 20th century, and many Azerbaijani engineers are employed in the oil and gas sectors across the world.
On the Azerbaijan-Armenian dispute, Salimov said, in the early 1990s Armenia occupied some 16% of Azerbaijan land “to support ethnic Armenian population”, resulting in the internal displacement of a million Azerbaijanis.
“Of other infrastructural problems, providing food and shelter to these refugees has been a key factor in our annual budget. We have been in talks with the world community to help us resolve this matter as well,” said Salimov, who was head of the Azerbaijan mission in Abu Dhabi before coming to Doha.
He praised the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, “who has pulled Azerbaijan out of a quagmire and we are now on our way to be one of the world’s strongest nations”.
As Published
