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Envoy: India interested in increasing turnover

2 July 2019 10:56 (UTC+04:00)
Envoy: India interested in increasing turnover

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

India and Azerbaijan enjoy expansion of cooperation in different fields, which undoubtedly benefits both states.

Azerbaijan-India Business Forum was held in Baku on June 1. Representatives of various companies operating in India in the field of business and investment as well as Azerbaijani entrepreneurs participated in the business forum.

Speaking at the forum, Bawitlung Vanlalvawna, Indian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, stated that the volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and India amounted to $930 million in 2018, of which $720 million accounted for imports of Azerbaijan from India.

The ambassador noted that this indicator does not completely reveal the bilateral cooperation’s potential, so India is seriously interested in expanding trade and economic relations with Azerbaijan.

Vanlalvawna also said that the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan in recent years have had a positive impact on the development of the national economy, and Indian business could take advantage of this opportunity.

Then the ambassador emphasized that implementation of innovative reforms opens up opportunities for deepening economic trade relations with foreign countries, including India.

“We, in turn, are interested in strengthening trade and economic cooperation, in expanding trade with the leading country of the South Caucasus region", Vanlalvawna pointed out.

It is noteworthy that the two countries’ trade turnover showed growth by 18 percent in 2018 compared with 2017. To date, more than 20 cooperation documents based on the international legal framework have been signed between the two states.

India's main import from Azerbaijan is crude oil. The volume of bilateral trade significantly increased from about $50 million in 2005 to nearly $250 million in 2015. Azerbaijan imports many goods from India including pharmaceuticals products, engineering goods, automobiles and spare parts, agricultural and meat products and IT services.

Presently, as many as 230 companies with Indian capital operate in Azerbaijan, whose investments in the country's economy totaled $1.2 billion. Azerbaijan and India are working on the preparation of an agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments.

Moreover, cooperation in tourism sphere between Azerbaijan and India is improving and tourist flow between the countries is rapidly growing.

As for statistics, the number of Indian tourists visiting Azerbaijan amounted to 40,000 people in 2018. Indian tourists have been increasingly showing interest in Azerbaijan in recent years. In January-April 2019, the number of Indian tourists visiting Azerbaijan increased by 1.8 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Both India and Azerbaijan started online visa issuance in 2017, which greatly helped in tourists' travel. Indian tourists are able to get online visas for Azerbaijan within three hours.

In late 2018, Azerbaijan Tourism Board opened its official representative office in Mumbai to introduce Azerbaijan's tourism opportunities and conduct propaganda. On January 16-18, 2019, Azerbaijani delegation headed by Azerbaijan Tourism Board attended SATTE 2019 international exhibition in New Delhi.

Moreover, Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) launched regular and charter flights from Baku to Delhi, the capital of India on June 25.

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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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