Azerbaijan has spent about $15 billion rebuilding the territories it recovered around Nagorno-Karabakh. The next stage of that effort is focused on Aghdam, where new factories are expected to help the region support itself. The government is looking to private investors to provide most of the capital and operating risk. Industrial projects would need to create local jobs and produce a dependable stream of income. Aghdam's industrial revival is therefore being tested as a practical answer to a long-term economic question. Success would reduce the burden on public finances and make the recovered territory more economically self-reliant. The investment case remains uncertain, though, because private capital will depend on whether the new plants can earn enough to keep operating.