Azernews.Az

BAKU – The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Germany made up about $600 million in January-May 2011, or 68 percent over the same period of last year, a senior Azerbaijani official has said.

Samir Valiyev, head of the Economic Development Ministry’s office, told a joint business forum in Baku on Tuesday that Azerbaijan mainly imports machines from Germany and exports oil and agricultural goods to the country.

Valiyev said German companies have made investments to the tune of $200 million in the South Caucasus republic’s economy.

According to him, the two countries signed a memorandum to establish a taskforce dealing with trade and investment issues during a visit by an Azerbaijani delegation to Germany in May. "This will allow to regularly discuss issues pertaining to investment activities," he said.

Valiyev said that Azerbaijan and Germany have signed more than 20 economic documents so far.

The ministry official said the German government has allocated loans totaling 372 million euros to his country since 1994 as part of technical cooperation. The funds have been chiefly spent on infrastructure and water supply improvements.

The Azerbaijani-German business forum was joined by over 80 entrepreneurs working in a variety of fields including industries, machine building, agriculture, construction, energy and consulting services, as well as officials of the two countries.

German economics ministry official Margaret Steffel said at the business forum that Germany was interested in assisting Azerbaijan in economic diversification and expansion of its exports.

Steffel also said Azerbaijan and Germany plan to establish a joint chamber of commerce, and technical work is underway to set up such a body.

On Wednesday, the German business people are due to visit a number of industrial plants in the Azerbaijani capital and also travel to Sumgayit, 30 km north of Baku, to familiarize themselves with the facilities’ capacities and hold talks on cooperation prospects.