In addition to the construction of various infrastructure facilities in Karabakh and East Zangezur, active work is underway to create conditions for the return of internally displaced people and ensure their economic livelihood. For this purpose the Azerbaijani authorities have initiated a large-scale project on building of «smart villages». The foundation laying ceremony of the first such project in Zangilan district took place late in April of 2021 and its completion is scheduled for the beginning of 2022.
The first stage of the «Smart village» concept will be implemented in three villages of Zangilan district: «Agali I», «Agali II» and «Agali III». The project consists of five main components: housing, production, social services, «smart village infrastructure» and alternative energy. First there will be 200 houses built on the territory, using innovative construction materials. Modern schools, polyclinics, kindergartens, e-government centers and tourist infrastructure will also be built in the villages. All facilities in the villages will be supplied with electricity coming from alternative energy sources.
Turkish, Italian, Israeli and Chinese companies will be engaged in the implementation of the project. The preference in the implementation of «smart» projects in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan is given to 5G technologies.
Also, a dairy farm will be built in Zangilan district during November-December 2021 with the aim to start production of Italian cheeses. It is planned to produce mozzarella, buratto and other types of cheeses here following the construction of the enterprise. Israel plans to initially build a buffalo farm for 300-400 heads of cattle in Zangilan district, using the «smart farm» technology, and expand production up to 1 thousand heads in the future.
There is also Huawei-Azerbaijan among foreign companies involved in the «smart village» project. After creating an environment of safe living in Karabakh at the first stage of the «smart village» project, in the future Huawei-Azerbaijan plans to introduce smart education, smart healthcare and smart agriculture systems in this region.
Projects of building of «smart villages» are planned to be implemented in other liberated territories as well. For this purpose villages have already been selected in several regions, and the operations are planned to be launched late in 2021 and early in 2022.
Besides, the foundation of the industrial park has already been laid in Agdam district. The total investments of the park residents are estimated at 110 million AZN (it will boost the opening of over 300 jobs), and the total area of the park will make 190 hectares. Built on the territory of the park will be enterprises for the production of building materials, packaging of AIC products, production of canned products, meat and dairy products, wine, feeding stuff, fertilizers and other products. At the initial stage, 33 small enterprises engaged in the field of production and services submitted applications for the establishment of enterprises.
It is also planned to build 200 modern farms with an area of 10 and 50 hectares with the aim to develop the agro-industrial complex in Agdam. 50 modern farms are planned to be built on the rest of the state lands. Several large modern farms with acreage of 1500, 3000, 4000 hectares will also be built.
The accelerated work is underway to restore the liberated territories and create ultramodern cities and villages in Karabakh and East Zangezur.
