Azernews.Az

Representatives of 20 German companies and over 80 Azerbaijani businessmen joined the Azerbaijan-Bavaria business forum in Baku on Wednesday.

Participants of the second such event included entrepreneurs working in the fields of construction and infrastructure, energy, logistics, medical technologies, environmental protection, ICT, alternative energy, and light industries.

Azerbaijani Economic Development Ministry’s department head Zaur Gasymov said in his remarks that the trade turnover with Germany in the first nine months of 2011 amounted to $804 million, more than double the figure reported as of the same period of 2010. Azerbaijan’s imports accounted for $650 million of the amount and exports $154 million.

Ulrike Wolf, head of the Bavarian economics ministry’s department of foreign trade, said about 50 percent of Germany’s trade with Azerbaijan is made up by the federal land of Bavaria. She continued, "Bavaria is a leader in the production of high technologies and it could support the process of automation in Azerbaijan."

According to Wolf, Bavaria could provide cutting edge technologies in the areas of environmental protection and medical equipment.

German ambassador in Baku Herbert Quelle spoke of the historic ties between Germany and Azerbaijan, noting that they were established in the early 19th century. He stressed that the 200th anniversary of German settlements in Azerbaijan will be celebrated in 2019 in the northwestern town of Goygol.

The business forum was organized by Azerbaijani export and investment promotion agency Azpromo and the German-Azerbaijani business association DAWF.