Bulgaria to open chamber of commerce in Azerbaijan
By Aynur Karimova
Bulgaria is interested in creating a trade mission in Azerbaijan, Emil Karimov told Trend on August 26.
The Azerbaijani Ambassador to Bulgaria said that the Bulgarian government intends to open a Chamber of Commerce in Baku with an aim to give impetus to economic cooperation between the two countries.
“Bulgaria considers Azerbaijan as a partner in such important areas of cooperation as agriculture, tourism, light industry and others,” the ambassador noted. “Today, mutual investments in Azerbaijan and Bulgaria are at a low level. But we try so that Bulgarian investors would be more attracted to the cooperation with Azerbaijan, and vice versa, so that it would be interesting for Azerbaijani investors to open their business in Bulgaria.”
He also mentioned the construction, infrastructure and pharmaceuticals sectors as promising areas for cooperation of the two countries.
“Opportunities for the development of economic relations will be discussed during the fourth meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, which will be held before the end of the year in Baku,” Karimov added.
The Bulgarian side plans to invite a governmental delegation of Azerbaijan led by Minister of Economy and Industry Shahin Mustafayev to Sophia and introduce it with the country's economic prospects.
Azerbaijan and Bulgaria have developed friendly relations after Bulgaria recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in January 1992.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in June 1992 and the Embassy of Bulgaria in Azerbaijan was opened in December 1999.
Bulgaria and Azerbaijan have the potential for a much greater trade turnover than current figures show. In 2014, the Azerbaijan State Statistics Committee reported that trade between the two countries amounted to $124.596 million, while this figure in January-July 2015 amounted to $6.55 million. Compared with the same period of last year, the export-import operations between the two countries have declined by 8.8 times.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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