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EU supports Azerbaijan's joining WTO

1 April 2015 16:56 (UTC+04:00)
EU supports Azerbaijan's joining WTO

By Nigar Orujova

The biggest trading partner and investor of Azerbaijan will support the process of country's joining the World Trade Organization, said Malena Mard, the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan began consultations with WTO in 2004. The working group on Azerbaijan at the WTO Secretariat was established on July 16, 1997.

Currently, Azerbaijan is in the process of negotiations with the U.S., Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, European Union, Norway, India, South Korea, Taiwan Province of China, Canada, Switzerland, and Honduras to join the WTO.

Talks have been completed and related protocols have already been signed with Turkey, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan. The country is at the stage of signing the protocol with China and Moldova.

“Cooperation with Azerbaijan is very important for the EU, we intend to develop these relations in the future as well,” Mard said at a press conference on the report of the EU’s progress in its relations with the countries of the Eastern Partnership in Baku on April 1.

Over the past 10 years, the EU has been developing relations with Azerbaijan within the framework of the Eastern Partnership program, which is the basis for the development of cooperation with partner countries of the European Union, she went on to add.

The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn began consultations on the next steps within the framework of the ENP, the diplomat said.

“We want to change the policy of work with neighbors and began extensive consultations to review this policy,” Mard said. “I hope that the new program of the EU's neighborhood will be ready by fall.”

The first results of the agreement on the simplification of visa regime between the EU and Azerbaijan are already noticeable, she stressed.

“Statistics shows that last year we issued 75,000 visas to citizens of Azerbaijan,” she said.

Mard further noted that the EU will continue to support the development process of civil society.

"Our cooperation with Azerbaijan continues in all areas. We hope that the country will remain a key partner of the EU,” she said.

“The EU allocated 94 million euros for the development of relations with Azerbaijan in 2014-2017. The EU also allocated 20 million euros to support the reforms in the field of education in the country.”

Mard said that the bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan will be discussed as part of the visit of Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations to Azerbaijan on April 7-8.

“Proceeding from a report on the EU progress in its relations with the Eastern Partnership member-states, one can make a conclusion that the energy relations between Azerbaijan and the EU are at a good level,” she said, noting that the sides perfectly cooperate as part of implementing the Southern Gas Corridor project.

The 3,500-kilometer South Gas Corridor that would finally end Europe’s dependence on a single pipeline started with the go-ahead to the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion, which will connect the Sangachal terminal with eastern Turkey through Georgia. It will link up with the SOCAR-led TANAP to be connected with a third pipeline TAP on the Turkish-Greek border.

TANAP construction is due to be completed in 2018 and TAP in 2020 with first gas deliveries to Europe planned in the same year. The cost of the work on all four elements of the Southern Gas Corridor was estimated at almost $45-48 billion, according to the preliminary data.

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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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