Ceyhun Alibayov
Country Director, GSK Azerbaijan
GSK started its operations in Azerbaijan in 1999, and it was one of the first major pharmaceutical companies to enter the market. We did this because we saw potential in Azerbaijan given its political stability and economic growth. The past 15 years have vindicated our decision. We now have 40 employees in Azerbaijan, and cover the whole country, because we are committed to expanding our customer base. GSK, over the last few years, has become a leader in the areas of respiratory treatment, antivirals, oral antibiotics, vaccines, and anti-epileptic medications. Right now, the latest IMS reports state that we are the third biggest in the pharmaceutical industry in Azerbaijan.
Fuad Mailov
Territory Manager - Azerbaijan, Cisco Systems
We came here in 2006 and started to build a presence by taking part in Azerbaijani national projects. We initially had the IP NGN—the next generation network project—that was launched in 2006 with the aim of transforming Azerbaijan and making ICT one of the main initiatives in the country. We have more than 40 Cisco partners in the country in addition to technology providers. The majority of financial institutions and government bodies prefer to work with Cisco. We are now in the implementation phase for new terminals at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport. The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) building is one of our most tangible and visible projects, and it will all be connected with Cisco technology. We are also helping to build Baku Olympic Stadium, which should be finalized in terms of construction by February 2015.
Guo Xiaobing
CEO, Guo Xiaobing
We established this office in 2002, more than 10 years ago. Our first project was Nakhichevan Telecom’s NG-switch project in 2002 and, from then on, Huawei continued to invest in the telecommunications infrastructure network and added consumer devices to its portfolio in the country. In 2013, we became the main vendor for the CRA Group and Azercell, the country’s largest telecoms operators. We are also providing support to the CRA group to deploy a 4G LTE network, and are expecting it to be launched by the end of the summer of 2014. The development of the telecommunications market in Azerbaijan has been fast, with an average annual growth rate over 18%, and it is one of the fastest ICT growth markets in the CIS region.
Altan Åžentürk
CEO, Yapı Kredi Azerbaijan
We have many common values with our sister country Azerbaijan, and speaking the same language is one of them. Azerbaijan, with its rich energy sources, and dynamic and growing economy has a strategic importance for us, and we aim to grow in the country. Aggressively growing trade volume and a developing economy are the other basic reasons why we’re interested in Azerbaijan. The fact that many international firms would like to invest in Azerbaijan is an indicator of the country’s potential. This economic liveliness is a great advantage for the banking industry. However, the infrastructure is still developing, and many of the new products and services need technological infrastructure. This is why we’re focusing not only on providing products and services, but also on developing the industry.
William Grace
General Manager, Schlumberger Azerbaijan
Schlumberger has operated in the Caspian region for many years and has built a significant operations footprint in Azerbaijan, Astrakhan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. Consequently, the region is important to the company’s growth plans. Also, the different Caspian operational environments have challenged the company to develop and deploy different technologies to ensure hydrocarbons are produced efficiently and safely. The upcoming Shah Deniz II wells are a good example of the challenges that can be faced—amongst other needs they require precise drilling control, and highly reliable equipment.
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