Italian companies eye involvement in Azerbaijan’s economy
By Ayya Lmahamad
Italian companies are interested in expanding business activities in Azerbaijan, Italy-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce President Manuela Traldi has said.
Addressing the meeting with Azerbaijan’s Agency for Small and Medium-sized Business Development Chairman Orkhan Mammadov, Traldi spoke about the opportunities for joint cooperation between the agency and the chamber in this area.
The sides discussed relations between the business communities of the two countries and the prospects for cooperation and the organization of joint events.
Mammadov said that the agency is interested in expanding relations with relevant Italian agencies.
In this regard, it was noted that the membership of the Agency in the Chamber and the signed documents on cooperation with various Italian institutions will make a positive contribution to the development of existing relations between the business communities of the two countries and the establishment of new business partnerships.
Italy was Azerbaijan’s top trade partner in 2020 with the mutual trade amounting to $4.5 billion while Azerbaijan was the largest supplier of crude oil to Italy. Azerbaijan accounts for more than 90 percent of Italy’s total trade with the South Caucasus countries. Likewise, Azerbaijan’s overall investment in Italy’s economy is estimated at 1.7 billion euros ($2bn), while Italy invested about 770 million euros ($910.8M) in Azerbaijan.
In addition, Italy is one of Azerbaijan’s main trade partners and over 100 Italian companies, operating in various fields, are registered in Azerbaijan. Italian companies have contracts worth over 10 billion euros ($11.8bn) for Azerbaijani projects both outside and inside the country. The volume of the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $2.8 billion during the period of January-May 2021. Out of the total turnover, exports amounted to $2.7 billion and imports to $155.3 million.
It should be noted that during the 44-day-war with Armenia in 2020, Italy voiced its support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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