Azerbaijan seeks to nurture tech sector as it looks beyond oil

Long reliant on oil and gas exports, Azerbaijan is courting foreign investment in its small but growing technology sector with a ‌series of reforms aimed at attracting tech companies and venture capital. The former Soviet ‌republic has been heavily dependent on energy exports since it gained independence in 1991. At the height of the oil ​boom, hydrocarbons accounted for about three-quarters of economic output and 90% of exports, according to the International Monetary Fund.