The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos is, above all, a venue where people talk about those economic and technological ideas that will become trends in the world in 10, 20 years, Ukrainian economist Alexander Okhrimenko told Trend.

“It is necessary to understand and respond in time to the changes in the globalized world,” the expert said.

“The participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in WEF is a good chance to reiterate the country’s political position in the South Caucasus and that the Azerbaijani authorities think about the ongoing events in the Middle East and in the world,” Okhrimenko added.

“Moreover, all these events, one way or another, are related to oil,” Okhrimenko said. “It is very important for Azerbaijan as an oil-producing country to understand how the world oil prices may change due to the recent events around Iran and Iraq, situation in Syria and especially in Libya in the future.”

“The most successful and wealthy owners or heads of the world’s biggest companies come to Davos very often to talk about money and establish the necessary relations,” the expert said. “Therefore, when politicians like US President Donald Trump talk about global environmental or global prospects, businessmen from various countries discuss how to make money in these new conditions."

“It is important for Azerbaijan to know not only about the possible dynamics of oil prices, but also to understand the future of the oil production and oil refining market,” the expert said.

“Too many factors affect all these events,” the expert said. “WEF is designed to show what the world leaders such as the US, Germany, France and China think about the Iranian problem and the war in Libya. The future situation in the world oil market depends on it. "

“But it is much more important for Baku to negotiate with big international investors and to attract them to participate in their promising investment projects,” Okhrimenko said.

"Azerbaijan has oil reserves but it is important not only to sell it as crude oil but it is necessary to think about the establishment of an international consortium that would create a chain for oil production in Azerbaijan, its refining and sale in Europe in the form of oil products,” the expert said. “It would be logical to build several joint oil refineries to sell oil products in the EU, rather than just crude oil.”

“This would be beneficial for Azerbaijan and European companies,” Okhrimenko said. “For this purpose, it would be possible to attract investors from various countries so that it would be profitable for them to invest money in the Azerbaijani oil business. WEF is just the place where it is possible to meet big foreign investors who will find it profitable and interesting."

“WEF may be of interest to Azerbaijan in terms of learning new ideas and new world trends,” the expert said.

"This will contribute to the development of the non-oil sector of the Azerbaijani economy,” the expert said. “Moreover, the territorial location allows Azerbaijan to become a bridge between Europe and Asia. Azerbaijan’s economic potential can be used more efficiently through using new global trends in the field of economy and technologies."