Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan is an economically developed country with great potential, claimed French Ambassador to Baku Pascal Monnier at a press conference organized by the Business France Agency as part of “Invest in France” week in Baku on September 23.

Monnier said that along with the expansion of trade relations, France is interested in investment cooperation with the country.

"We have chosen 50 countries, including Azerbaijan, to attract investments from these countries to France,” he said. “Our country is very attractive for foreign investments. France has well-established infrastructure with all of Europe. This is an industrial country that attracts foreign investments from around the world. We are creating favorable conditions for foreign investors. All this can help to attract Azerbaijani investments to France."

He noted that Azerbaijan has many large companies that may be interested in investing in France, for which the country would create the necessary conditions.

“Some of them have already become interested in the creation of businesses in France. We are ready to create all conditions for Azerbaijani investors to obtain visas. In addition, to investors who invest more than 300 million euros, we are ready to grant a residence permit in France for three years, followed by a renewal,” the ambassador said.

Monnier informed the audience that the number of visas issued annually to Azerbaijani citizens by France has doubled over the past five years. "In 2010 we issued 7,000 visas to Azerbaijani citizens, and 14,000 visas in 2015," the ambassador said.

He reminded that this is possible thanks to the simplification of visa procedures and the signing of an agreement by Azerbaijan on simplification the visa regime with the euro area.

“As you know, after the signing the agreement, the visa cost makes up 35 euros. And for those who make frequent visits, we provide a visa for five years. In addition, we passed a procedure for issuing visas to the TLScontact Company. Thanks to it, citizens do not need to come to the embassy to clarify various questions. In the future, we are going to pass the procedure for obtaining biometric data to the TLScontact,” the ambassador noted.

Touching upon the opening of a joint university in Baku, Monnier said that this matter is a key aim of education cooperation between Azerbaijan and France.

“In France, this issue is dealt with by the Strasbourg University, and in Azerbaijan by the Azerbaijan Oil and Industry University [former Azerbaijan State Oil Academy],” the ambassador said.

The press conference also featured a presentation of investment opportunities in France.

Economic Counselor of the Embassy of France in Azerbaijan, Herve Sarnelli, said that France has a strong, diversified, and open economy for investment.

He noted that Azerbaijan is among the almost one hundred countries that has signed an investment protection agreement with France.

Jerome Klose, a representative of Business France, in turn noted the presence of a large number of start-up projects in France that could be of interest to Azerbaijani businessmen. He also discussed the ease of opening a branch or business in France, noting that this process in the country takes just three weeks and costs about 3,500 euros.

Azerbaijan and France are actively developing relations. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and France amounted to $1.681 billion in 2014.

French companies are actively participating in the petrochemical, food, agricultural, machine engineering, tourism and other spheres in Azerbaijan.

Some 91 companies from France are involved in oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan as subcontractors. At the same time, over 50 French companies are involved in non-oil sector projects, including the first Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite Azerspace, and a plant for solid waste recycling.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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