Azerbaijan, France highlight growing economic cooperation
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijan's capital Baku hosted the seventh meeting of the Azerbaijani-French economic commission on November 26.
Addressing the event, Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said Azerbaijan highly appreciates the role of French finance institutions in financing large projects.
"The French banks finance large infrastructure projects in our country and I refer to the Societe General and BNP Paribas. We consider it necessary to develop this cooperation," Sharifov said.
He said the areas of future cooperation may include automobile production and public transport.
"As is known, the Greater Baku development project that defines the future direction of city development has been adopted. One of the most important directions is the underground development. There is a Baku underground development scheme and we think there is a potential for cooperation with French companies in this field," Sharifov said.
According to Sharifov, the development of the underground does not include only the construction of new lines and stations.
"I believe that our French partners will be able to cooperate with Azerbaijan in this field both in terms of technological equipment supplies and train depot renovation," he said.
The Minister went on to note that some other foreign countries are also interested in the Baku underground development.
"In addition, our countries may also cooperate in other areas of infrastructure such as land reclamation and road construction," Sharifov added.
The Finance Minister went on to say that trade-economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and France is developing in a stable way.
"The trade turnover between our countries is on a stable level. According to the results of January-September 2013, it amounted to over $1.2 billion and it is obvious that this figure will grow even more by the year-end," he said.
According to Sharifov, the cooperation between the two countries is developing successfully and this trend will continue in the future.
"Today Azerbaijan is the first foreign trade partner of France in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) after the Russian Federation. At the same time, France's share in Azerbaijan's foreign trade reaches 1.5 percent and this is a very good sign," the minister said.
Sharifov named space industry as one of the new areas for effective bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
"The first Azerbaijani telecommunication satellite was launched into orbit thanks to the French rocket carrier. We are sure that cooperation between our countries will continue in this field in the future as well," he said.
Later, Sharifov and Nicole Bricq, French Foreign Trade Minister who led the French delegation, signed a protocol on the results of the seventh meeting of the economic commission.
According to the document, France is interested in participating in waste management in Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan is developing a complex program on waste management and France is interested in participating in this work," the document said.
Furthermore, the sides expressed interest in exchanging information on the recent developments in decreasing the oil industry's impact on the environment, in particular in the spheres of waste management and polluted ground and water.
Before the meeting, the French delegation was received by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
President Aliyev praised economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and France, and stressed the importance of expanding the activities of French companies in Azerbaijan.
Touching upon the commission's, the Azerbaijani president expressed confidence that the issues that would be discussed in the event would serve the development of economic cooperation between the two countries.
Nicole Bricq, in turn, said that she is visiting Azerbaijan as the first minister of the new French government.
The Minister said her country was interested in expanding the activities of French companies in Azerbaijan, which she called a strategically important country.
The sides also noted that great potential exists for boosting Azerbaijan-France economic cooperation. They underlined the importance of determining new spheres, and exchanged views on prospects for cooperation between the two countries.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and France were established in 1992. The trade turnover between the two countries reached about $2 billion in 2012.
The legal framework for bilateral cooperation includes 42 documents, and about 40 French companies operate in Azerbaijan.