EU Reporter: Azerbaijan–UAE partnership moves to digital future From barrels to bytes

An opinion piece by Turkish pundit Ahmet Sağlam, published by EU Reporter, covers Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s recent visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Caliber.Az reprints the article. 

“President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on December 17, at the invitation of President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The visit is significant not only for routine diplomatic engagements but also as a symbolic reflection of the transformation in the future outlooks of two countries whose economies have historically been centered on fossil fuels.

The main theme of President Ilham Aliyev’s working visit was the Games of the Future 2025 event organized by the United Arab Emirates. Within this context, Aliyev participated in the opening ceremony of the event. The Games of the Future is an innovative global sports organization with a hybrid structure that combines physical sports disciplines and digital games, and is referred to in the literature as “phygital.”

Participants compete in both real and virtual environments; physical competencies, digital skills, and technological infrastructure are evaluated simultaneously. In this respect, the Games of the Future stands out not merely as a sports or esports organization, but as a concrete prototype of the future of competition and spectatorship at the intersection of sport, technology, and digital culture.

As is well known, the Azerbaijani economy has historically exhibited a structure based on oil and natural gas revenues. However, in recent years, the country has attracted attention with policies aimed at reducing this dependency and increasing economic diversification.

President Ilham Aliyev’s participation in and valuation of a technology-centered organization can be seen as a symbolic indicator of Azerbaijan’s effort to move beyond an economy solely dependent on fossil fuel revenues, and to build a sustainable development model through digitalization, innovation, and high value-added sectors.

Likewise, Azerbaijan has been supporting technological initiatives within the country in many areas, especially in defense, and is providing various state supports to foster the development of startup culture.

Similarly, the organization of a high-technology-focused event such as Games of the Future 2025 by the United Arab Emirates demonstrates an important component of the UAE’s economic transformation strategy.

Although the UAE still benefits significantly from fossil fuel revenues, in recent years it has made substantial investments in areas such as artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, space technologies, renewable energy, and creative industries. Through such global organizations, the UAE clearly indicates that it recognizes the long-term unsustainability of an economic model based on fossil fuels and has the will to adapt to future economic paradigms.

In conclusion, Azerbaijan’s effort to transform its economy into a technology-focused structure, taking into account the major structural changes in the global economy, is of critical importance for the country’s long-term competitiveness. In the coming period, technology, the digital economy, and sustainable agriculture (especially organic agriculture) will be among the principal sectors that will survive and shape the global economy. 

Therefore, using fossil fuel revenues as a transitional tool to move toward a development model based on technology and innovation emerges as a strategic necessity for Azerbaijan as well as for countries with similar economic structures,” Sağlam writes.