Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani and Indian business unions signed a memorandum on cooperation in Baku on Wednesday.

The document was inked by president of Azerbaijan’s National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations, Mammad Musayev, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Assistant Secretary General Sheila Sudhakaran on the sidelines of the Interactive Business Session between India and Azerbaijan.

The session was attended by over 20 Indian business persons representing sectors such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare and herbal products, agricultural products, textiles, garments and yarn products, chemicals, petroleum products, engineering, construction materials and infrastructure, etc.

Indian Ambassador Debnath Shaw said in his remarks that the Indian delegation’s visit should be seen as the entrepreneurs’ interest in Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector. He noted that India was willing to share its extensive experience in this area with the South Caucasus republic.

The ambassador said the peculiarity of the visit was that Indian businesspeople had the opportunity to forge ties with their potential partners in Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani confederation’s president Musayev said that whereas bilateral trade turnover made up $56 million in 2005, the figure surged six-fold to $335 million in 2010. "This stems from both countries’ interest in bilateral cooperation," he said.

Musayev noted that agriculture was the priority sector for Azerbaijani-Indian cooperation, stressing the importance of developing bilateral relations in this field.

According to Musayev, a visit by Azerbaijani businessmen to India will be arranged this September or November, with the main goal being to gain more experience and discuss establishment of joint ventures.

FICCI’s Assistant Secretary General Sudhakaran in turn said that Wednesday’s meeting paved the way for bringing the two countries’ representatives closer by organizing joint business forums.

Sudhakaran noted that several Indian companies are operating in Azerbaijan, mainly in the field of information technologies.