Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijani and Russian businessmen met for talks in a business forum held in Baku on March 13.

The forum was held as part of a visit of Sverdlovsk Region Governor Yevgeniy Kuyvashev to Azerbaijan.

Organized by the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), the forum brought together companies from the fields of heavy and light industries, transport, agriculture, construction, energy, petrochemics, education, health, finance and trade.

Addressing the event, Azerbaijan's Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev praised the economic cooperation between the two countries, noting that the Azerbaijani investments in Russian economy amounted to about $1 billion over the past 10 years.

"Last year alone, the volume of investment amounted to about $200 million. The economic development of our country has provided Azerbaijani entrepreneurs with necessary resources to make investment abroad, and we are interested in the further development of investment activities," he said.

Mustafayev said, at the same time, about 570 Russian companies are operating in Azerbaijan.

"More than $628 million was invested in the fixed capital. Free trade between our countries and the dynamics of trade turnover are standing at a good level. It made up almost $2.6 billion last year, which is 10 percent higher than in 2012," he added.

The Sverdlovsk region of Russia is one of the most important partners of Azerbaijan among regions of the country, Mustafayev stressed.

"The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia stood at about $277 million last year, with more than a two-fold increase for the year. Azerbaijan is interested in further development of this cooperation with mechanical engineering, steel metallurgy, creation of joint logistics centers and others among the main priorities," he added.

On the sideline of the forum, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and Ural Chamber of Commerce (UTPP) in accordance with the results of business forum.

The document was signed by the head of AZPROMO Rufat Mammadov and UTPP President Andrey Besedin.

Official meetings

President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Kuyvashev on March 13.

Hailing relations between Sverdlovsk and Azerbaijan as a long-term and a friendly cooperation, Kuyvashev said, "The foundations of these ties were laid by national leader of the Azerbaijani people, great personality Heydar Aliyev."

He recalled the visit of Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva to Sverdlovsk, and celebrations of the 90th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev.

Kuyvashev also hailed the opening of Azerbaijani Language and Culture Center at Ural Federal University as "a good sign of our cooperation" and also praised Azerbaijan's economic development, and pointed to successful cooperation with Azerbaijani companies.

He said trade between Azerbaijan and Sverdlovsk was rapidly expanding.

President Aliyev said trade between Azerbaijan and Russia, including its republics, was developing on a rapid pace and the two countries were actively cooperating on all issues.

The president said Azerbaijanis living in Russia and Russians living in Azerbaijan contribute to development of the two countries.

President Aliyev said this visit has created good opportunities for discussion and development of the bilateral cooperation.

Kuyvashev also meet with Prime Minister Artur Rasizade.

Rasizade noted there were mutually fruitful relations between Azerbaijan and republics of the Russian Federation, and praised cooperation between Azerbaijan and Sverdlovsk Region.

Rasizade said there were wide opportunities for the fruitful cooperation in the fields of economy, especially in the non-oil sector, and briefed Kuyvashev on the history and consequences of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He also stressed the importance of solving the conflict on the basis of international laws and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Kuyvashev said Sverdlovsk was interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan in the fields of machine-engineering, metallurgy, industry, transport, agriculture and trade. The two sides also exchanged views on the prospects for the economic and cultural relations.

The Russian delegation also met with Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the long-term friendly relations between Azerbaijan and the Sverdlovsk region as well as the military-political situation in the region and issues of Russian-Azerbaijani bilateral cooperation.

Possible cooperation

According to Kuyvashev, Sverdlovsk region is interested in launching joint ventures in Azerbaijan.

"We discussed about further cooperation in our meeting with President Aliyev. It is pleasant that the head of state supported our initiative to launch joint ventures in both countries and the expansion of cooperation," he said.

Kuyvashev said the delegation members spoke about the seriousness of their intentions to expand ties.

"It's time to move to a new level of relations. It is no longer about simple supply of goods, but mutual investment. We have tried to present all industries, Sverdlovsk region is known for," he said.

Car building and oil and gas industries are among the important areas of cooperation, he added.

"We have offered projects in railcar production, as well as in oil and gas engineering. It is about creating joint ventures on the territory of Azerbaijan," he stressed.

However, Kuyvashev said that it is too early to talk about any specific time-frame and cost of projects.