Azerbaijan's Consul General addresses a conference at San Diego State University

At the invitation of the Center for Information Convergence and Strategy (CICS) of the San Diego State University in California, Azerbaijan's Los Angeles Consul General Nasimi Aghayev addressed the Center's Fourth Annual 'Left of Boom' Conference on May 4, 2018. This invitation-only Conference was dedicated to proactive strategies in several domains, including trade and security; health and environment; and science and technology.

In his presentation, the Consul General spoke of Azerbaijan's path to independence and its rapid development as a free and independent nation since 1991. Aghayev informed the participants about the economic reforms undertaken in the country and current efforts by the Government under President Ilham Aliyev’s visionary leadership to diversify the economic development even more vigorously into such areas as tourism, IT, agriculture and transportation, among others, which are already beginning to produce positive results, strengthening Azerbaijan's position as the largest economy in the South Caucasus region.

Highlighting Azerbaijan's role in implementing projects of regional and transregional importance and magnitude, the Consul General spoke of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad that was inaugurated on October 30, 2017 and that is set to connect China with Europe through the shortest and most reliable route.

Informing the conference participants of Azerbaijan-U.S. economic and trade relations as well as the favorable business and investment climate established in Azerbaijan, Aghayev invited the American entrepreneurs to invest in and trade with his country.

The Consul General also informed the audience about the illegal military occupation and total ethnic cleansing of around 20% of Azerbaijan's sovereign territory by neighboring Armenia. He noted that this illegal occupation and the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan has only damaged Armenia's well-being over the last 27 years of its independence, making it the weakest economy of the South Caucasus. "Since 1991, Armenia has lost a million of its population to economic emigration," Aghayev said, adding that integration of Armenia into the large-scale regional projects involving Azerbaijan and the other South Caucasian nation - Georgia, would only be possible once Armenia leaves the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, allowing hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani displaced population to return to their homes and lands.

After the presentation, the Consul General responded to questions from the audience.