He made the remarks in Baku Nov. 15 at a meeting with ADB Vice President Wencai Zhang, who is responsible for operations in the ADB South Asia Department and the Central and West Asia Department.

During the meeting, the sides discussed prospects for expanding cooperation, the progress of the projects implemented with the support of ADB and other issues of mutual interest, Azerbaijan’s Economy Ministry said in a message.

Mustafayev said that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with the bank, which provides financial support in implementation of a number of projects in the country.

"So far, the ADB has allocated $2.8 billion for various projects in Azerbaijan,” Mustafayev said. "Azerbaijan, in turn, takes an active part in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program by the ADB.”

"Baku’s holding of CAREC ministerial conferences in 2008 and in 2011, as well as the 48th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors in 2015 is an indicator of successful cooperation,” he added.

The minister also informed the ADB representative about the large-scale energy and infrastructure projects being implemented in Azerbaijan, including construction of the Baku Sea Port, the International North-South Transport Corridor and the work to create a free trade area (FTA).

"Cooperation with the ADB for the implementation of infrastructure projects can be extended,” Mustafayev said. "There is an opportunity to implement joint projects in the FTA and industrial parks in this area.”

He noted that it is very important to expand cooperation with credit unions of the ADB, working with small and medium-sized businesses, which will make it possible to increase the volume of lending to the private sector.

"The ADB, besides opening direct lending lines for the real sector, can act as a shareholder of companies and join the projects in ‘state-private sector-bank’ cooperation format in the agriculture sphere,” said Mustafayev.