The “Azerbaijan Investment & Culture Summit” will be organized jointly by the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) and the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) of the Republic of Azerbaijan under the patronage of the Ministries of Economy and Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, with the theme “Toward Enhancing Intra-OIC Investment Opportunities: Investment to Sustain Peace and Development in Karabakh”. The Summit will be held in an offline format at Marriott Hotel Boulevard on October 27-29, 2021, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The summit is dedicated to the 880th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet and philosopher Nizami Ganjavi. The Summit would be a good opportunity for decision-makers, investors and start-ups to network among themselves and with the rest of the world and also to identify investment and cross-border opportunities allowing for increased intra-OIC investments flows while speeding up regional integration. In a competitive international business environment, perception of countries local culture and cultural distances are playing an increasingly important role in investment decision-making.

The main objectives of this Summit are:

• To set a global platform allowing for effective engagement of both private and public stakeholders, in a bid to strengthen trade, economic, scientific, technical, social and cultural ties between Azerbaijan and the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
• To promote investment opportunities of the newly liberated cities in Karabakh.
• To identify resources and challenges needed to implement entrepreneurial initiatives.
• To provide a platform for sharing and learning of best experiences, lessons learned and reflections in Turkic countries through Azerbaijan and the OIC Member States.
• To encourage international and cross-sector partnerships and identify resources for future cooperation.
• To bringing together start-ups; founders; investors; mentors, decision makers, ministers, governmental authorities, international institutions, ecosystem influencer, VCs, angel networks and sectoral partners within OIC and global network.
• To increase visibility of Muslim youth start-ups in the global market.
• To empower young entrepreneurs around the world with ground breaking ideas and collaborations to solve cross-border challenges, uncover new possibilities and develop revolutionary ideas and solutions, catalyzing innovation.