Spain ready to strengthen cooperation with Azerbaijan: FM
By Aynur Jafarova
Spain is ready to strengthen open political dialogue and bilateral cooperation with Azerbaijan in all spheres of mutual interest.
The remarks were made by Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation José García-Margallo y Marfil at a briefing following
the talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.
"Azerbaijan is an important country in the region. Given the
interest of our country in cooperating with Azerbaijan, Spain is
opening a representative office in Baku. There is also an agreement
on the establishment of an intergovernmental commission on economic
cooperation," the minister said.
The current state and priority areas of bilateral cooperation and
issues of international problems were discussed with Minister
Mammadyarov, the Spanish Minister noted.
Mammadyarov, in turn, said relations between Spain and
Azerbaijan are not at the level "that we would want them to be, but
there are prospects for their development."
"Political relations are at a good level and Spain has always
supported us on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. At the meeting with
my colleague, we also discussed regional cooperation and the
situation of Ukraine. Azerbaijan also encouraged Spanish companies
to cooperate," the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister said.
He also noted both Azerbaijan and Spain have agreed to jointly
provide assistance to African countries.
Mammadyarov said Spain has expressed interest in the
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) project.
The 826-kilometer long BTK railway is a regional rail link
project that connects Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. Azerbaijan
has allocated a $775 million loan for the construction of the
Georgian section of the railway. The project is financed by
Azerbaijan's state oil fund SOFAZ.
The foreign ministers of the two countries also signed a Convention
for the Elimination of Double Taxation with Respect to Income and
Property Tax and Prevention of Tax Avoidance.
This is the first official visit of the Spanish minister to Azerbaijan.
Spain recognized Azerbaijan's independence in December 1991. Diplomatic relations were established in February 1992.
The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to about $158.4 million in 2012.
Azerbaijan's embassy in Spain has initiated the establishment of a joint chamber of commerce with aims to increase the trade turnover between the two countries, to attract Spanish companies to Azerbaijan, take Azerbaijani goods to the Spanish market, to organize mutual business forums, trade and investment missions, and to organize other events to promote bilateral cooperation.