Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic are preparing to ink several memorandums on cooperation in the coming months.

Czech Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vitezslav Pivonka made the remark during the press conference in Baku on October 21.

The Czech side plans to sign a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministries of Energy, Education, Youth and Sports and Internal Affairs, the ambassador said, adding that draft of these memorandums have already been prepared, but their coordination and approval can take several months.

Touching upon economic relations between the two countries, the ambassador said that the Czech Republic is the largest importer of Azerbaijani products in the EU and ranks ninth among those countries in terms of exports to Azerbaijan.

Pivonka also reminded that Azerbaijan provides one-third of his country’s oil needs -- about 2.4 million tons per year. He noted that Azerbaijan plays an important role in the diversification of sources of oil supplies to Czech and ensuring its energy security.

Pivonka also noted that the Czech Republic is one of the major investors in the economy of Azerbaijan.

“The amount of the Czech investments exceeded $2 billion in the past six years,” he said.

The trade turnover between the two countries, according to the ambassador, was $1.2 billion in 2015, and this is 30 percent less than in 2014, the envoy said, clarifying that the decrease was due to falling oil prices.

He further noted that the Azerbaijani investors are not actively invested in the economy of the Czech Republic, although the economic situation in the European country is extremely prosperous.

GDP growth in the country amounted to 4.3 percent -- the highest rate among the EU countries, Pivonka said.

The ambassador also mentioned about the upcoming visit of Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic Milan Stech and Education Minister Ekaterina Valachova to Azerbaijan in the first half of 2017.

The exact date of the visits have not been determined yet, but within the framework of the visit, the head of the Czech Senate plans to meet with the Azerbaijani leadership and discuss a wide range of bilateral issues.

Valachova, in turn, will hold meetings in the Azerbaijani Education and Youth and Sports Ministries.

The Czech ambassador also emphasized that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic in the field of education is actively developing.

“Over the past six years, the country issued more than 400 long-term visas to Azerbaijani students studying in the Czech Republic,” Pivonka.

The Czech side is also interested in attracting Azerbaijani tourists.

Although Prague and Karlovy Vary are the most popular destinations of Azerbaijani tourists, according to Petr Vagner, Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic, southern regions of the Czech Republic can also attract them.

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

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