Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia ink agreement on SMEs
By Rasana Gasimova
Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have signed a protocol on cooperation in the sphere of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The document was signed by the chairman of the board of SMEs Development Agency Orkhan Mammadov and the head of the International Cooperation Department of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) Badir al-Mufgaini at the 4th meeting of the working group on cooperation between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia held in Riyadh on December 13.
During the meeting, the countries discussed the organization of mutual business missions.
The parties also discussed expanding economic cooperation between the two countries, holding joint events with the participation of representatives of Azerbaijani and Saudi Arabian SMEs, the possibility of participation of the relevant structures of Saudi Arabia in the activities of the SME Development Fund, which is a part of SMEs Development Agency.
The working group operates as part of the intergovernmental commission on economic, trade, investment, technical, cultural and sports cooperation between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.
During the visit, Mammadov also held a number of meetings where creating joint ventures and a joint Business Council were discussed. The sides also reached an agreement to develop a road map of joint activities in the field of SMEs.
Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan have strong bonds of cooperation in terms of support for the development of entrepreneurship in the country. Azerbaijan’s SMEs Development Agency and Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) have been closely cooperating in this direction.
It should be noted that in recent years, the economic relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have strengthened and expanded with the increased interest in investment.
During the 5th meeting of the Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Intergovernmental Commission in Baku held in March 2019, the organizations signed a document on the expansion of ties in the sphere of investments.
Saudi Arabia is especially interested in investing in energy sector of Azerbaijan along with agriculture, tourism, transport.
The turnover between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia in January-October 2019 amounted to $ 10 million, which is 33 percent more than that in the same period of 2018.
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