Azerbaijan, Switzerland seek closer economic relations
The Azerbaijani government and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) have signed an agreement on cooperation in a number of fields.
The agreement envisions cooperation in industry, energy, trade, investments, agriculture, finance and banking, culture and tourism. The protocol was inked by Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev and SECO board member Eric Martin in conclusion of a meeting of the joint commission on trade and economic cooperation, held between Azerbaijan and the Swiss Federal Council in Baku on Thursday.
"Ways of improving economic relations between our countries were discussed during the meeting," Martin, who co-chairs the intergovernmental commission, told reporters after the meeting.
He said Azerbaijani-Swiss trade turnover amounted to 1 billion Swiss francs (approximately $1.1 billion) by the end of 2010. Azerbaijan mainly exported energy products to Switzerland and imported various equipment and latest technology.
He added that SECO has implemented 25 projects in Azerbaijan so far and 12 others are still in progress.
Minister Mustafayev said in his remarks that Azerbaijani-Swiss trade surged 39 percent in January-October 2011 in comparison with the same period of 2010.
According to Mustafayev, Swiss companies invested $61 million in Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector in 1995-2010.
The minister said one of the examples of Swiss investment in Azerbaijan is Holcim company, which is implementing a project jointly with Azerbaijan Investment Company to build a new furnace worth 300 million euros at the Garadagh Cement plant.
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