Dutch–Azerbaijani Business Forum due in Maastricht
By Amina Nazarli
The Dutch–Azerbaijani Business Forum will be held in the Maastricht School of Management in Maastricht for the first time on April 23, the Netherlands Council for Trade Promotion reported.
A delegation headed by Shahin Mustafayev, the economy and industry minister of Azerbaijan and Henk Kamp, the Dutch economy minister will attend the event, which is aimed to support the business relations between the two countries, as well as to intensify actual business contacts between companies from several sectors in Azerbaijan and the Netherlands.
The Council informs about the rapidly growing Azerbaijan’s economy in recent years, adding that the country has become the largest economy in the South Caucasus.
“The backbone of the Azerbaijani economy is formed by the energy sector. One of the main objectives for Azerbaijan today is to reduce the dependency of its economy on oil and to ensure expansion of the economic development to rural areas,” the Council reports.
“Due to this strategic decision to diversify its economy, Azerbaijan offers opportunities to Dutch entrepreneurs in the agriculture and food sector, horticulture, transport and logistics, water and waste management and in the oil, sustainable energy and maritime sector.”
This is not the only business forum between the two sides. A meeting of the two countries business circles will be held in Baku as part of the annual governors meeting of the Asian Development Bank on May 3-5.
Currently, more than 100 Dutch companies are active in Azerbaijan, specializing in such sectors as services, trade, banking and insurance, industry, construction and transportation. Moreover, Dutch companies are participating as contractors in three large-scale Azerbaijani State-funded projects worth $20.3m.
During the period 1995–2013, the Netherlands accounted for 9.1 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Azerbaijani non-oil sector, equating to $668.3m. The Netherlands currently occupies fourth place in the non-oil sector FDI rankings after Turkey, the UK and the US.
The trade turnover between the two countries stood at $19.15m during January-February 2015, according to the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee. It’s at 40.39 percent less than last year ($32.12m).
The Netherlands recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.
Azerbaijan’s Embassy was opened in the Hague in 2007. The Dutch embassy was established in Baku in 2009.
--
Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz