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The World Economic Forum, as the Azerbaijani government was hoping, was to become an event enhancing the international image of Azerbaijan, the reality, however, turned to be much more modest than the expectations were, Shahin Abbasov writes in an article for the website of the American organization “Eurasianet”.

The international business leaders and various multi-millionaires who usually flock to the Forum’s annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland, were noticeable in their absence at the Baku event, which was designed to discuss the future of the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Not any noticeable decisions, no business deals were made at the forum. “I would say the forum went generally unnoticed,” commented Natik Jafarly, head of the Society of Economic Bloggers, a local non-governmental organization.

Azerbaijani executives were also in short supply among the few hundred registered participants. The chief executive officer of one large Azerbaijani holding company, who asked not to be named, told EurasiaNet.org that he had learned about the event less than a week before its start, and had had no luck finding out the list of participants in advance.

“The regional government presence was also subdued. Turkey sent its energy minister, Tamer Yıldız, while Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan dispatched a few deputy prime ministers. Georgia and Russia settled for their ambassadors to Baku, though Moscow added Peter Sannikov, vice-president of the Russian Direct Investment Fund,” the author writes.

According to the article President Aliyev praised Azerbaijan’s economic development and its regional role which could be surprising for wingside spectator. He notes that more controversial issues like democratization, rule of law, media rights, civil rights, and migration were not addressed publicly at the gathering.