US and Azerbaijan sign $8bn tech deals amid South Caucasus peace push

Samir Sharifov

US firms have signed technology agreements with Azerbaijan worth more than $8bn (£6.3bn) to boost cooperation in artificial intelligence and cloud computing, American officials have announced.

The deals, signed last month during Baku Energy Week and the US-Azerbaijan Economic Dialogue, were highlighted by the US Chargé d'Affaires Amy Carlon during a reception in Baku on 1 July.

Speaking at the event, which marked the upcoming 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, Carlon said the investments would help set the South Caucasus region on "an irreversible path to peace".

"We see the people of Azerbaijan as our reliable partner in this," Carlon said, pointing to deeper security cooperation alongside the commercial agreements.

She referenced the initialling of a historic peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Washington in August last year, which followed three decades of conflict.

A key element of regional stabilization is the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) project. The transport corridor is designed to establish an unobstructed transit link between mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave through Armenian territory.

Speaking on behalf of the Azerbaijani government, Deputy Prime Minister Samir Sharifov congratulated the American people on their democratic and economic achievements over the past two and a half centuries.

Sharifov added that diplomatic relations between Baku and Washington, first established 34 years ago, continued to develop "at a high level".