Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

Business ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey have reached a new high, since a number of agreements were concluded between the sides following the visit of Azerbaijani export mission to Istanbul.

Azerbaijani Farma-Shah LLC and one of the Turkish companies have reached an agreement on the export of Azerbaijani tea to Turkey.

Azerbaijani Economy Ministry reported that also, the negotiations on the export of raw materials used as an additive in cement production have been held between Nakhchivan Cement Plant LLC and “BASF Turkey” company.

Moreover, an agreement has been reached envisaging that the Turkish “Koc Mermer Granit” company will use the products of Gemigaya LLC in construction projects.

The negotiations on the sale of products and the purchase of raw materials have been held between the enterprises for production of plastic windows and doors Jahan Pen LLC and Jahan Sanaye Kompleksi LLC and the Turkish Gema and Marmara companies.

The Azerbaijani export mission in Istanbul in which 19 companies representing food, construction and building materials, chemical industries, furniture production and tourism in Nakhchivan AR participated, held with the support of the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry and with the organizational support of the Azerbaijani Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), was completed recently.

As part of the mission, the Azerbaijani businessmen held bilateral meetings with Turkish colleagues, and discussed the issues of expanding the export of Azerbaijani products to Turkey. The preliminary agreements on exports were reached during the meetings.

Export missions is another way to attract interest of foreign companies to the local products.

Earlier, the products of the Azerbaijani companies included in the export mission caused great interest among Mongolian companies.

Azerbaijani companies Absheron-Sharab, A+Co, Merit Brand, Sharg Ulduzu, Agro-Azerinvest, Aspi Agro, Azeri met with the largest distributor of wine products in Mongolia - World Wine LLC and Sansar chain stores. Primary agreements were reached on the export of Azerbaijani wines to Mongolia, as well as on the export of products between the Azerbaijani company Aspi Agro and the Mongolian company World Wine.

President Ilham Aliyev signed the decree on large-scale promotion of local non-oil products in foreign markets as “Made in Azerbaijan” on October 5, 2016.

This decree includes nine different support mechanisms to stimulate exports and promote “Made in Azerbaijan” abroad. Depending on the support mechanisms, the costs relating to their realization are fully or partially covered by the state budget.

Promotion of the “Made in Azerbaijan” brand on foreign markets became one of the priorities of the country’s foreign economic policy.

In January 2018, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on amending the procedure for determining and regulating the payment mechanism for part of the expenses paid from the state budget for organizing export missions to foreign countries, studying foreign markets and marketing activities, promoting the “Made in Azerbaijan” brand to foreign markets, the receipt by local companies of certificates and patents in foreign countries in connection with exports, research programs and export development projects.

According to the decree, this year the number of export missions that can be organized with the participation of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs in one calendar year has been increased from 10 to 25. Also, the number of international fairs and exhibitions, where a national stand can be presented with the participation of Azerbaijani businessmen was increased from five to ten.Azerbaijan and Turkey enjoy strong and developing economic ties, especially in terms of huge energy projects on the transportation of Azerbaijan's oil and gas resources to the European and world markets through the Turkish territory.

According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover with Turkey in 2017 was $2.64 billion, $1.37 billion of which was for export to that country. The trade turnover between the two countries in 2017 grew by 14.8 percent.

In the first quarter of the current year, the Azerbaijani-Turkish trade turnover amounted to $573.1 million (an increase of 3.7 percent over the year).

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

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