by Peter Marco Tase
On January 12, 2026, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Digital
Development and Transport, the Honorable Sameddin F. Asadov,
welcomed in Baku a U. S. Delegation led by Carl B. Kress, Regional
Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
This emblematic bilateral meeting was held at the Ministry of
Digital Development and Transport, where mutual trade, industrial
and regional economic projects were discussed.
The Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport
expressed his satisfaction with the increasingly productive
strategic cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United States of
America. The two authorities shared views on forthcoming prospects
for cooperation between the Ministry of Digital Development and
Transport and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency in the areas of
railway infrastructure, telecommunications, space technologies, and
the construction of data centers for artificial intelligence
applications.
Trained at the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) and the
Fuqua School of Business at Duke University (USA). Sameddin Asadov
– through this meeting – is emphasizing the main pillars of
cooperation between Washington and Baku that took shape during the
historic meeting of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev with President Donald Trump at the White House on August
8th, 2025.
In Azerbaijan, the delegation led by Carl Kress held meetings
with a variety of national top officials, including Azerbaijan’s
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Elnur Mammadov. In the meeting, the
current state of bilateral cooperation between the countries in
areas such as energy, trade, regional connections, including the
TRIPP route, economic investment, as well as the promotion of
information to U.S. private sector representatives with relevant
infrastructure and logistics interests in Azerbaijan, and the
prospects for the development of cooperation were discussed.
These imperative bilateral meetings and engagements are held in
separate institutions with the common objective, and that is to
strengthen the framework of the Strategic Partnership Charter,
taking shape at the Washington Peace Summit on August 8th last
year.
Furthermore, the role of Azerbaijan in the energy security of
the region was elevated as the nation is focused on developing
renewable energy resources, the diversification of trade routes in
the Middle Corridor, as well as the existing favorable business and
investment environment in Azerbaijan, including the opportunities
for establishing new relations.
The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)
was the centrepiece of these discussions, and Baku’s diplomacy and
economic policies are pivotal towards a more prosperous and
peaceful South Caucasus and Eastern Europe.
According to national media outlets: Azerbaijani government
agencies have a growing potential to establish new partnerships
with US private-sector entities to explore corporate investment in
the development of TRIPP infrastructure, as well as participation
in renewable energy ventures.
“With its strategic location, geographically situated at the
heart of Eurasia, Azerbaijan is a nation with immense economic
potential in the South Caucasus with unparalleled government
performance over regional circular economy initiatives, energy
economics and security strategy and dynamics. These geopolitical
factors strengthen Washington’s engagement with Baku as President
Trump is projecting and forging a new balance of power in the
Western Hemisphere, the Middle East and South Asia.
The views and opinions expressed by guest columnists
in their articles may differ from those of the editorial board and
do not necessarily reflect its views.