COVID-19 has taken its toll on investment into the country. FDI is forecast to decline by 5 to 10 percent in 2021, before recovering in 2022.

The remaining issues are border demarcation between the two former Soviet countries. As well as the issue of re-establishing a trade and transit corridor via Armenia between the rest of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave.

Highlights of the selloff programme include titanium producer United Mining and Chemical Company. Large-scale privatisation is seen as key in trying to root out corruption and reduce the outsize influence of business magnates or oligarchs.

IMF recommended Azerbaijan shifting fiscal policy to gradual and growth-friendly consolidation.

The new plant will be built in the Mangystau region in western Kazakhstan and completed by 2023.