The “Support to strengthen the capacity of the Port of Baku” project implemented by the European Union together with the Port of Baku has been launched since November 2016, and the second phase of the project, which has been realized since 2020, has already been successfully completed, the Port of Baku says in its press release.
For this purpose, the closing ceremony of the project on "Green Ports and new methods of port management" was held on March 10, 2022 at the “Hyatt Regency Baku” with the participation of representatives of the Port of Baku, the Delegation of European Union to the Republic of Azerbaijan, government and international organizations and the media.
This ceremony signifies a major phase in the development of the Port of Baku, transforming it into a Green Port of the region and strengthening Azerbaijan-EU partnership in facilitating trade alongside the East-West transport corridor, regional connectivity and flow of transit cargo to Europe and beyond.
The Director-General of the “Baku International Sea Trade Port” CJSC Dr Taleh Ziyadov, First Consul of the European Union Delegation to Azerbaijan, Head of Cooperation Mr Viktor Bojkov and Mr Vugar Karimov, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan made opening speeches and informed the participants about the strategic goals and future prospects of the project.
The main goal of the project was to expand the port's capabilities in the implementation of the Port of Baku’s strategic plan for 2020-2022 and the Green Port concept. The project also includes the acquisition of new international certificates, digitization of port operations, including the digitization of the human resources system, to optimize business processes, strengthening trade and investment activities, development of a specially integrated logistics management system and significant work has been done to expand the digital platform to connect the entire supply chain along the Middle Corridor.
At the same time, as a result of the project, the Port of Baku again received ISO 14001: 2015 certification. This certificate is a management standard for environmental protection and includes the establishment of systematic operations in the enterprise to ensure the protection of the environment and the implementation of sustainable activities to protect the ecosystem. In addition, the Port of Baku was awarded the “EcoPorts” certificate of the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) for the first time in the region in 2019, and last year the Port of Baku successfully passed this recertification within the project. Thus, Azerbaijan is among the 24 countries in the world that have received this certificate, and the Port of Baku has been awarded the status of the first "Green Port" in the region.
A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Training Center of Port of Baku and the Training Center of Port of Barcelona at the closing ceremony of the project. The goal is to implement an institutional development strategy to transform the Port of Baku Training Center into a regional port and logistics training center. By creating joint synergies, the training centers of both ports will make an important contribution to the creation of practical work experience and human resources in accordance with the global challenges of the market.