Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The energy-rich countries of the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf – Azerbaijan and the UAE, which enjoy very fruitful bilateral relations in various fields, discussed strengthening of their economic ties.

A delegation of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs led by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev had a meeting with the management of DP World Company in Dubai, said the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry.

The Azerbaijani delegation was informed about the work carried out by the DP World Group in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in the Alat township of Baku’s Garadagh district. The sides discussed the general plan on construction of industrial and logistics infrastructure, development concept of the free trade zone and other issues.

Measures on creation of a free trade zone type special economic area covering the territory of the Baku International Sea Trade Port in the Alat township of Baku’s Garadagh district was inked by a presidential decree on March 17, 2016.

In September 2016, the Azerbaijani government and Dubai Port World (DP World), one of the world’s major port operators, signed an agreement on provision of consulting services for the creation of the FTZ.

During the visit, the Azerbaijani delegation also met with the management of VPS Healthcare Company.

Mustafayev recalled that currently, two medicine plants are being built in Azerbaijan’s Pirallahi Industrial Park, which specializes in pharmaceutics.

The minister noted that negotiations are also underway with other medicine producers.

Recalling that the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC) and VPS Healthcare signed a memorandum of understanding in February, Mustafayev said that the groundbreaking ceremony of a joint pharmaceutical plant will be held in the near future.

Moreover, a business forum, which was attended by entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan and the UAE operating in the spheres of industry, agriculture, construction, finance, tourism and others, was also held in Dubai.

The Azerbaijani delegation invited the UAE businessmen to invest in priority spheres of the Azerbaijani economy, such as industry, agriculture, IT and tourism.

Then the Azerbaijani delegation visited the Lulu supermarket chain and met with the company’s management. Participants of the meeting discussed the issues of cooperation and sale of Azerbaijani products in the company’s trade facilities located in the UAE and Gulf countries. It was noted that Azerbaijani products are in great demand in the UAE and some Azerbaijani goods, are already sold in Lulu supermarkets.

Azerbaijani entrepreneurs also visited the Union Coop chain of supermarkets and met with its management. During the meeting, the possibility of selling Azerbaijani products, especially fruits and vegetables, in Union Coop supermarkets was discussed. Representatives of the company noted that certain Azerbaijani products, which are in great demand in the UAE, are already sold in these supermarkets.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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