Category: Azer News

Azerbaijan produced 224 buses in January-August this year.

The State Statistics Committee noted that this figure represents a 44.5% increase compared with the same period of 2025. As a result, 26 units of finished bus products remained in stock as of September 1 this year.

During the first eight months of the year, Azerbaijan produced machinery and equipment, as well as automobiles, trailers and semi-trailers worth 268.3 million manats.

According to the data, machinery and equipment production decreased by 73.6% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, while production of automobiles, trailers and semi-trailers increased by 89.3%.

Meanwhile, 1,992 passenger cars were produced in Azerbaijan in January-August, down by 380 units, or 16.5%, compared with the first eight months of last year. As of September 1, 130 finished passenger cars remained in stock.

During the reporting period, Azerbaijan produced 337 tractors, which is 4.5% lower than in the first eight months of 2025. As of September 1, 6 finished tractors remained in stock.

In addition, 597 trucks were produced in the country in January-August, representing a 2.7-fold increase compared with the same period a year earlier. As of September 1, 51 finished trucks remained in stock.

US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with leaders and foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) next Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss the next phase of the war with Iran, Axios reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

The meeting is expected to focus on US proposals for a postwar strategy as the Trump administration works on a plan for the period following the conflict. According to the sources, the administration is expected to finalize its broader ‘day-after’ strategy after the US midterm elections.

Representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman are expected to participate in the talks. The US State Department sent initial invitations on Wednesday, while the meeting could potentially be expanded to include other Arab and Muslim leaders.

The planned discussions come as Washington signals that it is seeking a path toward ending the conflict. Trump said Wednesday that he hoped the war was nearing its end and again claimed that Iran had communicated directly with the United States about reaching a deal.

The Gulf states have a direct interest in the outcome of the war. They host US military bases and have faced Iranian attacks and economic disruptions during the conflict, including interruptions to oil and natural gas exports.

For Washington, the meeting could provide an opportunity to coordinate with key regional partners on security and economic issues before a postwar framework is finalized. Energy infrastructure, shipping routes and the stability of regional oil and gas markets are expected to remain important concerns.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wants to meet Trump in New York, although no meeting has been scheduled, according to an Israeli source cited by Axios.

The upcoming talks would continue Trump’s efforts to engage Gulf and other Arab and Muslim governments directly on major regional conflicts. The administration’s approach suggests that Washington is increasingly focusing on the political and security arrangements that could follow the current conflict, although the timing and terms of any potential settlement with Iran remain uncertain.

On September 17, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the inauguration of the Meysari Grand Hotel and SPA complex in Shamakhi.

Mehmet Balçik, Chief Executive Officer of Pasha Hospitality, briefed the head of state and the First Lady on the newly constructed Meysari Grand Hotel and SPA in Meysari village of Shamakhi district, noting that the complex is a multifunctional tourism and recreation destination.

Located at an altitude of 1,050 meters above sea level, the complex comprises a hotel and cottages, restaurants, a conference center, a spa and wellness center, sports and recreation areas, a children’s entertainment center, a parking lot and a helipad.

The complex features a total of 204 rooms, including 88 rooms of various categories in the main hotel building and 116 rooms in the cottage section. Additionally, three villas are located within the complex.

The wellness center offers extensive amenities for guests’ relaxation and well-being.

The complex features three swimming pools, gym and pilates halls, a tennis court, a football pitch, a padel court, and a children’s entertainment center.

The helipad is designed to enable guests to use air transport when necessary. Restaurants will also operate within the complex.

The Nasimi Conference Center is also located on the premises. The 420-seat center is designed to host conferences, meetings, presentations, business gatherings, and other events. In addition, the complex has a hall for organizing smaller-scale events and meetings.

Indoor and outdoor parking areas have been established at the complex.

A total of 320 new jobs have been created at the complex.

Shamakhi, distinguished by its ancient history, rich cultural heritage, beautiful nature, and unique mild climate, is one of Azerbaijan’s attractive tourism destinations. Mountain landscapes, vineyards, ancient monuments, and traditions of hospitality make the region a favorable destination for relaxation and travel in both summer and winter. The opening of the new hotel in Shamakhi will contribute to the development of tourism infrastructure, creating additional opportunities for the comfortable stay of local and foreign guests, more efficient utilization of the district’s tourism potential, and the development of the local economy.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva arrived in Shamakhi district on September 17.

The head of state and the First Lady visited the monument to the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, erected in the center of the city of Shamakhi.

On September 17, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva inspected the conservation works carried out at the Pir Omar Sultan shrine in Shamakhi.

The historical Pir Omar Sultan shrine is located in the village of Avakhil, Shamakhi district. Initial archaeological excavations conducted at the site revealed the remains of a 14th-century tomb and artifacts confirming that it belonged to Pir Omar Avakhili, the founder of the Khalwatiyya order.

During their visit to Shamakhi in 2020, President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the shrine and issued instructions for conservation works to be carried out on the monument.

The remnants of the shrine, constructed from river stone and rock, have been conserved with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Eight graves were discovered and restored, including that of Pir Omar Avakhili inside the shrine and others around its perimeter. To protect the shrine and its surrounding area following the conservation works, a protective wall was built using matching stone materials. An octagonal metal canopy structure, 16 meters in height, was installed over the wall. A walking path was also created within the conserved area for visitors. Special attention was paid during the execution of the works to avoid damaging the natural environment or the surrounding graves.

The restoration of this sanctuary is part of comprehensive state measures aimed at preserving religious and historical monuments. The conservation of the Pir Omar Sultan shrine with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation reflects the Foundation’s substantial contribution to these state-level efforts across the country.

During the inspection, the head of state and the First Lady were also briefed on the completed restoration works at the Kalakhana Tombs Complex in Shamakhi district.

Eight of the nine 17th-century tombs belonging to the complex, located in the village of Kalakhana, have survived to the present day, while one has suffered severe damage.

Restoration and conservation works were carried out on this historical monument with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture. The restoration efforts, which also involved international experts, covered seven tombs within the Kalakhana complex.

Saudi Arabia has requested that Oman mediate a two-week ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis, seeking to discuss all “humanitarian” demands and potentially announce an agreement at the end of that period, Lebanese media outlet Al-Akhbar reported on Thursday.

According to previous reports, officials from the United States met with Houthi representatives in Oman over the weekend, with the meeting reportedly ending in Washington’s decision not to intervene to support Saudi Arabia in its conflict against the Yemeni rebel group and with Houthis promising not to attack US vessels in the Red Sea.

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in more than three years, increasing the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%. The move, which fully met market expectations, also signaled new rate hikes in the near future. The decision by the monetary authority of the world’s largest economy effectively signals the beginning of a new phase in global financial markets.

It is clear that the period of monetary easing that prevailed around the world since the second half of 2025 is now behind us. At that time, amid easing inflation, central banks were expected to gradually cut their policy rates, and many regulators, including the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), had begun lowering rates. However, renewed tensions in the Middle East at the beginning of 2026 and their direct impact on oil prices reignited global inflationary pressures.

As if the imbalance created in energy markets by the Russia-Ukraine war, which has continued since 2022, were not enough, geopolitical chaos surrounding the Gulf countries with major oil and gas reserves and Iran once again triggered fuel price rises. As a result, the optimism surrounding rate cuts in the second half of 2025 soon gave way to sharp monetary tightening. Rate hikes by the central banks of Europe and Japan in the summer of 2026 were the first signals of this trend.

In the US, meanwhile, inflation rose to 3.4% in September (the expected target was 2%), while non-farm payrolls came in at around 160,000, compared with a forecast of 50,000, indicating that the labor market was overheating. The fact that both indicators significantly exceeded expectations forced the Fed to take the inevitable step of raising its policy rate. The same scenario is now expected to be repeated by Europe and Japan, while the Fed is also expected to proceed with further rate hikes.

As a rule, when the central banks of developed countries, particularly the Fed, raise interest rates, the yields on assets in developed countries rise sharply, making those assets more attractive to global investors. As a result, massive capital outflows from emerging markets (EMs) begin, local currencies come under depreciation pressure, and yields on government bonds in those countries rise. Research by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also confirms that unexpected tightening of monetary policy in Washington puts direct pressure on the currencies of emerging markets. For this reason, these countries are forced to follow the Fed and other major central banks and raise interest rates in order to retain capital.

So, what position will the Central Bank of Azerbaijan take against the backdrop of this global storm? To answer this question, it is enough to look at the latest macroeconomic indicators presented by the CBA.

First, the volume of deposits in the country’s banking sector has reached a record level of AZN 44 billion, according to the latest reports. Of this amount, AZN 17 billion consists of deposits held by individuals, while the remainder belongs to legal entities and institutional organizations. For comparison, during the same period last year, medium- and small-sized banks offered interest rates of 12% on manat deposits, while the figure has now fallen to 10%. This indicates that liquidity in the banking system is sufficiently high.

Second, there is a huge positive balance in foreign trade turnover. According to data from the State Customs Committee for August, a positive trade balance of $10.3 billion was recorded in the first eight months of 2026. The CBA’s latest report also confirms this: last month alone, the regulator purchased $1.5 billion from the foreign exchange market, increasing its foreign currency reserves to $15.3 billion. This is the highest level recorded since the devaluation in 2015.

Third, inflation stood at 5.7% in August, which is within the CBA’s target range of 4% (±2%) and indicates that price growth in the domestic market remains under control.

Final Analysis and Forecast

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan’s policy rate currently stands at 6.5%, and this level has remained unchanged since February 5, 2026.

All these data show that, unlike many emerging markets, Azerbaijan’s large foreign currency reserves, stable foreign trade surplus, and the manat’s fixed exchange rate regime against the US dollar serve as strong buffers protecting the country from the direct negative effects of global monetary tightening.

If no force majeure geoeconomic shocks occur in domestic or global markets in the near future, we can expect the Central Bank of Azerbaijan to maintain a ‘wait-and-see’ position through the end of 2026 or cautiously lower interest rates in order to support domestic business activity. Rather than joining the global race for higher interest rates, the CBA is likely to prioritize maintaining domestic macroeconomic stability and high liquidity.

China’s proposal at the 2026 BRICS Summit in New Delhi to establish a BRICS AI Open-Source Zone offers one possible direction. The initiative, presented by President Xi Jinping, includes cooperation in large language model development and applications, AI training and the creation of an open ecosystem. China also proposed cooperation on a digital industry cloud platform, smart factories and an engineer training alliance, alongside efforts to build greater international consensus on AI governance.

The significance of open-source artificial intelligence lies in the possibility of reducing dependence on a limited number of proprietary platforms. Commercial AI services can be useful, but their pricing, technical restrictions, data policies and availability may limit how institutions in developing countries use them.

Open-weight models, when their parameters are made available under appropriate licences, can provide researchers and organisations with greater opportunities to adapt technology to local needs. They may support applications in languages that receive less attention from major commercial developers, improve local research capacity and enable institutions to experiment without relying exclusively on external service providers.

The expansion of Chinese models, including Qwen, DeepSeek, Kimi and GLM, has contributed to a more competitive international AI landscape. These systems differ in their technical capabilities, licensing arrangements and commercial models, and they should be assessed individually rather than treated as a single category. Nevertheless, the broader development of open-weight AI has created new possibilities for institutions outside the traditional centres of technological power.

For the Global South, the value of these technologies will not be measured only by benchmark results. It will also depend on whether universities can use them for research, whether businesses can deploy them at manageable costs and whether public institutions can develop reliable applications for education, healthcare, agriculture and public services.

Consider a university in Pakistan, Kenya or Brazil seeking to build an AI tool for local-language education. Access to an adaptable model could reduce some initial development barriers. But the university would still need computing resources, quality training data, technical expertise and safeguards against inaccurate or discriminatory outputs. Open-source availability is therefore a starting point, not a complete development strategy.

BRICS countries possess different levels of industrial capacity, research expertise, digital infrastructure and regulatory experience.

The proposed AI training programmes and engineer alliance are potentially important in this regard. Technical education can help ensure that access to models translates into domestic capacity. Without a skilled workforce, developing countries may remain dependent on foreign companies for deployment, maintenance and system integration.

The Global South Needs a Voice in AI Governance

The BRICS AI proposal arrives amid wider disagreements over how artificial intelligence should be governed. Governments are concerned about economic competitiveness, cybersecurity, privacy, employment and the possibility of autonomous systems causing harm. Technology companies, meanwhile, are navigating rapidly changing regulations and significant commercial pressures.

Developing countries face additional concerns. Many have limited capacity to monitor sophisticated AI systems, investigate digital harms or develop their own regulatory institutions. They may also face the risk of being excluded from decisions about international standards that will affect their economies.

A broader AI governance framework should therefore involve countries beyond the most technologically advanced economies. The principle of inclusion is important, but representation must be accompanied by substantive participation in technical discussions and policy formation.

China’s proposal can contribute to this conversation without requiring other countries to adopt a single technological or regulatory model. BRICS members should be able to evaluate different approaches and cooperate where interests overlap.

The initiative could also support applications linked to sustainable development. AI has potential uses in agricultural forecasting, energy management, disaster preparedness and public health. Yet these benefits depend on reliable data, institutional capacity and responsible implementation. Technology alone cannot resolve structural development problems.

For Pakistan, participation in international AI cooperation should be approached with a clear domestic agenda. Investment in universities, computing infrastructure, technical training and local-language datasets would help ensure that the country can contribute to, rather than merely consume, global technological progress.

The future of open-source AI will ultimately depend on trust. Developers need to address security risks, governments need to support fair access, and users need sufficient information to make informed decisions.

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The author is the Chairman of the Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development (BRISD) and is a financial systems analyst focused on reserve currencies, central banking arrangements, and the structural dynamics of international monetary order.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his intention to introduce two government bills targeting those he believes spread defamation about Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.

According to The Times of Israel, the first bill would provide for the possibility of revoking Israeli citizenship for such statements. The second would increase by 20 times the maximum compensation that can be claimed in a defamation lawsuit without the need to prove damages – up to 1 million shekels ($310,000).

The trigger was a scandal surrounding the documentary “Naza” by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The film received a Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and is based on anonymous testimonies from 24 soldiers and intelligence officers. They claim that during operations in Gaza, the command factored in anticipated civilian casualties in advance.

Benjamin Netanyahu accused the filmmakers of portraying Israeli soldiers as war criminals.

A Channel 12 source in the IDF said that the discussion had shifted from the content of the painting to Israel’s accusations of restricting freedom of speech.

Current Israeli legislation already allows citizenship to be revoked in rare cases, particularly for committing a terrorist act or treason. This requires the Minister of the Interior to submit a request, the Minister of Justice to approve it, and a court to confirm the decision.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday that the Trump administration did not notify the Kremlin about deploying weapons in space.

He warned that “it’s all being monitored, it’s all being recorded, and the appropriate conclusions are being drawn.”

Earlier this week, US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed that the US deployed “on-orbit space control weapons,” without going into detail. Ryabkov said that an arms race, as well as “growing risks of open conflict in outer space,” can still be avoided. However, he also said that the deployment of US weapons cannot harm bilateral strategic stability contacts, “because such a dialogue does not exist.”