Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The Azerbaijan-Japan relations constantly developed and deepened over the past 25 years, said Teruyuki Katori, the Ambassador of Japan to Baku.

Katori, in an interview with Azertac, highlighted the importance of reciprocal visits, discussions held within the meetings of Azerbaijani-Japanese Economic Committee.

“Cooperation in cultural field is deepening. Events for popularization of cultures are being held in both countries. We will spare no efforts for further development of Azerbaijani-Japanese bonds,” he added.

Touching upon the cooperation in economic field, the diplomat noted the government of Azerbaijan attached great importance to development of agriculture and tourism in the country. He stressed the importance of boosting cooperation in the relevant fields.

Touching upon the opening of Baku-Komatsu cargo flight between Japan and Azerbaijan, the envoy said that it is possible to open a passenger flight in the future, which will contribute to further deepening of relations.

Azerbaijan, working hard to develop its tourism sector, now targets on attracting Japanese tourists. Earlier, Azerbaijan Tourism Association Chairman Nahid Bagirov said that Japanese is interested in visiting the Caucasus region. In this regard representatives of the major Japan tourism association with more than 10,000 members visited Baku last year.

On strengthening the relations between the two nations, the diplomat added that studying the Japanese language in Azerbaijan develops.

“We are pleased with cooperation between the regions of both countries. There are wide opportunities for publication of books about Azerbaijan in Japan. The Embassy of Japan is ready to comprehensively assist the further development of cooperation between the two countries,” he said.

The ambassador went on to say that Japanese companies "Itochu" and "INPEX" have a total of 15 percent share in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field, which is the largest block of oil fields in Azerbaijan.

Japan was one of the first countries to support Azerbaijan's forward-looking oil strategy. Today two major Japanese companies Itochu and Impex are involved in the Contract of the Century [signed on September 20, 1994 in Baku, a large-scale international contract on the joint development of three oil fields - Azeri, Chirag, Gunashli in the Azerbaijani Sector of the Caspian Sea].

Leaders of Japanese business, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Marubeni, and Sojits are involved in energy and infrastructure projects in the country.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Japan amounted to $22.08 million in January-March of 2017, according to the Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Japan were established in 1992. A number of important projects are being implemented in Azerbaijan through the financial support of Japan, while very important infrastructure projects had already been commissioned in the country through Japanese government`s loans.

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

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