Baku hosts Azerbaijan-Russia business forum
By Nazrin Gadimova
Baku Business Center hosted Azerbaijan-Russia business forum as part of the visit of a Russian delegation on April 14.
Organized by Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) with the support of the country's Economy and Industry Ministry, the event brought together officials and also the representatives of about 60 companies from both sides operating in the field of agriculture, industry, construction, consulting, tourism and so on.
Representing the Russian Ulyanovsk Oblast, the delegation was led by its Governor Sergei Morozov.
Addressing the event, Azerbaijan's Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev said Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the expansion of ties with Russia, noting that political relations between the two countries have risen to a strategic level.
"Azerbaijan and Russia have signed more than 30 documents in the economic field and more than 160 documents in various fields so far," the Minister said. "The activity of the intergovernmental commission, which has held 13 meetings, is very important in expanding economic relations."
"There are about 570 Russian companies in the country and some $628 million was invested in fixed capital. Azerbaijan has invested $995.5 million in the Russian economy in the past ten years," he added.
Sergei Morozov, in turn, emphasized the great potential of the two countries and said effective use of the existing capabilities will be important in the development of bilateral cooperation.
Ulyanovsk Oblast is interested in Azerbaijan's construction companies participating in the Russian construction field, he said, adding that the region will host major sports events: Bandy World Championship in 2016 and FIFA World Cup in 2018.
"We know how different objects, transport, and engineering infrastructure are constructed in Azerbaijan. Moreover, we have discussed the entry of large Azerbaijani companies in the construction sector with Azerbaijan's Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev. The region has set an ambitious goal - one square meter per inhabitant-, so we need to produce 1.5 million square meters, but we have produced only half of it," Morozov said.
The governor added that the Ulyanovsk Oblast is also interested in the participation of Azerbaijani companies in projects on greenhouse agriculture and food security.
"Ulyanovsk is one of the most important engineering, automotive, and machine-tool regions of Russia; it is the aviation capital of the country. We have great interest in our companies coming to Azerbaijan. We also hope to find partners here who will come to the Ulyanovsk Oblast," he said, adding that negotiations for an twinning agreement between Ulyanovsk and Ganja are currently underway.
Following the business forum, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between AZPROMO and the Corporation for Enterprise Development of Ulyanovsk Oblast.
President Aliyev met the Russian delegation afterwards.
Speaking at the meeting, the president stressed that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, including cooperation between his country and the individual subjects of the Russian Federation, were developing successfully.
Morozov, in turn, talked about the works and projects carried out in the Ulyanovsk to expand cooperation with Azerbaijan in economic and humanitarian fields, and expressed confidence that cooperation will continue to develop.
Over the past ten years, the volume of Azerbaijan's investments in Russia's economy has reached around $1 billion, $200 million of which was made in 2013.
"Foreign trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to $2.58 billion in 2013, which is 10.47 percent more than 2012," the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee said.
Azerbaijan's exports to Russia amounted to over $1 billion, while the import of goods from Russia totaled $1.5 billion during the mentioned period.