Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

France is interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan in the agricultural field.

This remark was made by French ambassador to Azerbaijan Pascal Monnier on May 27.

"France has a lot to offer Azerbaijan on cooperation in the field of agriculture," the ambassador told journalists. "For instance, there is little French milk, wine here [in Azerbaijan], but we work on expanding this cooperation."

The diplomat also noted the French government is still unpleasant with the development level of Azerbaijani-French relations, despite the much work done in this regard and French president's two visits to Azerbaijan in a year.

“We could improve the relations in the fields of education and culture as well,” Monnier said. “In particular, work is underway to establish a France-Azerbaijan university.”

Monnier went on adding that the French government also supports the project to create sister cities with Azerbaijan. A number of similar agreements have already been signed in this regard.

Touching upon the relations between Azerbaijan and France in the tourism sector, the diplomat said the number of visas issued by France for Azerbaijani citizens has increased by 2.5 times since 2012.

France recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on January 3, 1992. The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on February 21, 1992.

French companies are actively participating in the petrochemical, food, agricultural, machine engineering, tourism and other spheres in Azerbaijan. There is a great potential for the development of relations in the sphere of agriculture and winemaking as well.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and France stood at $1.681 billion in 2014 and $157.4 million of this amount accounted for the import to Azerbaijan and $1.52 billion accounted for the export to France, according to Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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