Azerbaijan eyes to expand economic cooperation with Italy
By Rashid Shirinov
Azerbaijan attaches great importance to economic cooperation with Italy, Deputy Economy Minister of Azerbaijan Rufat Mammadov said at the Italy-Azerbaijan Business Forum on July 18.
He noted that there are about 100 investment companies with Italian capital registered in Azerbaijan, which operate in various sectors of the economy.
“The countries have established broad investment ties. Italian companies are investing in the oil and non-oil sector. Azerbaijani companies are also investing in the Italian economy,” Mammadov said.
He mentioned that the Italy-Azerbaijan Business Forum contributes to the strengthening of business ties between the two countries, and the topics of forum reflect the priority areas of cooperation.
“We plan to discuss issues related to the energy sector and green technologies. The existing and potential projects, the implementation of which is envisaged in the future, will be discussed,” the deputy minister said.
Mammadov noted that presently, both countries are closely cooperating in the fields of energy, transport and logistics.
“Many Italian companies operate in this area in Azerbaijan. Extensive cooperation has also been established in the field of agriculture, to which Azerbaijan pays great attention,” he added.
Today Italy and Azerbaijan enjoy excellent bilateral economic relations. Over the past eight years, Italy has remained Azerbaijan’s major trading partner, the fourth exporting country and the first customer in the energy sector.
Azerbaijani-Italian relations are based on mutual understanding and cover various fields. It is also noteworthy that Italy is one of main investors of Southern Gas Corridor project, which envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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