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Envoy: Azerbaijan's investment in Switzerland amounts to $2.6bn

26 October 2022 16:29 (UTC+04:00)
Envoy: Azerbaijan's investment in Switzerland amounts to $2.6bn

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's investment in Switzerland amounted to $2.6 billion as of October 26, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Switzerland Fuad Iskandarov said during a press conference in Geneva, Azernews reports per Trend.

Noting that it is gold that is mainly exported, he added that the oil supplies have also recently begun. In this regard, he noted that Europe is Azerbaijan's main direction of energy exports.

"The country is one of the main gas suppliers to Europe, and plans to double supplies over the next five years," he said.

Traffic through Middle Corridor

The ambassador also stated that the volume of traffic through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also called Middle Corridor, increased by 77 percent in January-September 2022.

"The issue of increasing the capacity of this corridor is on the agenda and there are already plans for this together with partners," he said.

Cooperation with regional partners

Fuad Iskandarov underlined that Azerbaijan is a country that established close cooperation with its regional partners. In this regard, he stressed that Azerbaijan also continues the process of a peaceful settlement with Armenia.

"It was here, in Switzerland, that the first direct meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia took place, without any mediation from outside. We are proud of this and hope that such positive steps will continue," he said.

Moreover, the ambassador said that the trilateral format of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Armenia cooperation is very important for the development of the region.

"Transport cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia is very well developed and the volume of transit traffic through the region is increasing. At the moment, Azerbaijan and Georgia are working on developing their transport potential, why shouldn't Armenia join? I think it will be beneficial for the entire region," he said.

Attacks on embassy building

Fuad Iskandarov added that the embassy is closely cooperating with the country's law-enforcement bodies to prevent attacks on the embassy building.

"Amid the number of attacks on Azerbaijani embassies all over the world, this issue remains relevant," he said.

He recalled that during his tenure in Brussels, Azerbaijan's newly-opened embassy building in Belgium came under attack.

"Six employees were injured, and the damage to the building amounted to €49,000. Therefore, Azerbaijani Embassy in Switzerland began to actively work with the local law-enforcement bodies to prevent similar cases," he said.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on January 21, 1992.

Azerbaijan and Switzerland cooperate in various economic sectors. There is mutually beneficial cooperation between Baku and Bern in the non-oil sector. In addition, Baku will host a meeting of the Commission on Trade and Economic relations between Switzerland and Azerbaijan in 2022.

The trade turnover between the two nations amounted to $457.2m in 2021, with exports accounting for $272.5m and imports for $184.7m.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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