Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)

Name of the organization

Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)

General information about the organization

  • Establishment day:25 th June, 1992.
  • Member States:Azerbaijan, Albania, Bulgaria, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Turkey, Greece, Ukraine, Serbia, North Macedonia.
  • Purpose:The organization was established in order to define major directions of regional cooperation and develop the relations among regional countries.
  • Areas of activity:commercialeconomic development, small and medium entrepreneurship, agriculture, culture, banking and finance, customs issues, education, energy, environmental protection and etc.

Information about cooperation between Azerbaijan and the organization

· The Republic of Azerbaijan took part in the preparation and adoption of more than 11 varieties of official documents, in the meetings of relevant working groups within the framework of BSEC. The Republic of Azerbaijan has coordinated the activity of working group on energy over 2005-2007.

· On June 26, 2012 the 20th anniversary of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization Summit was held in Istanbul with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev.

· On 18-19 October 2012, the meeting of the Working Group on Trade and Cooperation of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization was held in Istanbul, Turkey.

· On February 20, 2014, the High Level Forum on attracting the private sector to agro-food chain development was held at Baku Business Center. The event was held with the support of Business Council of BSEC, the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers’) Organizations of Azerbaijan Republic, International Food Organization, Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Agriculture.

· The Deputy Minister of Economy participated in the meeting of ministers in charge of economy held on 11 May 2017, in Istanbul.

· In 2009 and 2018 Azerbaijan chaired the organization for 6 months period respectively.

· Authorized representatives of the Ministry of Economy participated in the meeting of the Working Group on Trade, Economic Development and Customs of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization held on June 17, 2021 in a video conference format.

· At the meeting of the BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers held on December 17, 2021, Republic of Azerbaijan was appointed as a coordinating country in the Working Group on SME for a two-year term with effect from January 1, 2022.