Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan's Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and the Agency for Foreign Trade and Investment (AWEX) of the Belgium's Wallonia region signed a MoU.

The signing ceremony was held in the framework of an Azerbaijani-Belgian business forum organized by AZPROMO and the country's Economy and Industry Ministry on April 29.

The event brought together more than 50 entrepreneurs engaged in agriculture, consulting, food sector, industry, energy, and other fields, along with officials from the two sides, the Economy and Industry Ministry said.

Addressing the event, AZPROMO Vice President Vidadi Guliyev provided extensive information about Azerbaijan's economy, noting that economic relations between the two countries are developing successfully.

"The existing potential between the two countries is effectively used to expand economic ties," Guliyev said. "Therefore, the expansion of ties between entrepreneurs plays a significant role in the development of trade and economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Belgium."

He added that the two sides have already signed seven documents and 19 companies with Belgian capital are currently operating in Azerbaijan in the fields of construction, transport, communications, industry, and so on.

Director for Central and Eastern Europe and AWEX CIS Dominic Turner, in turn, provided information on Wallonia's economy, stressing the importance of bilateral meetings and business forums to strengthen ties between the two countries' businessmen.

Speaking at the business forum, AZPROMO adviser Natig Madatov made a presentation on business environment and investment opportunities in Azerbaijan, while AWEX Adviser on Trade and Investment in Turkey Eric Bletard made a presentation on the country's economy and the possibilities of business cooperation between the two countries.

The business forum continued with bilateral meetings aimed at discussing the possibilities of cooperation between entrepreneurs.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Belgium amounted to about 61.3 million manats in 2013, while the figure was 60.2 million manats in 2012, Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee said.