Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Czech Minister of Trade and Industry Jan Mladek will visit Baku next year.

The minister is expected to join the Azerbaijani-Czech intergovernmental commission’s next meeting to be held in early February 2017 in Baku, Czech Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vitezslav Pivonka told Trend.

“We have prepared a memorandum of cooperation between the energy ministries of Azerbaijan and Czech Republic, and the final text is ready,” Pivonka added.

The agreement is expected to be signed by the two countries energy ministers in early 2017, said the ambassador.

The envoy mentioned that Vice-Speaker of the Czech Republic’s Parliament Vojtech Filip will also visit Baku to take part in the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly. The visit is scheduled for December 14-16.

Pivonka emphasized that the two countries enjoy a strategic cooperation.

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. The Czech Republic mainly imports Azerbaijani oil, but predominantly exports industrial equipment and consumer goods to Azerbaijan.

Energy-rich Azerbaijan plays an important role in the diversification of sources of oil supplies to Czech and ensuring its energy security.

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.

The Czech side is also interested in attracting Azerbaijani tourists. Although Prague and Karlovy Vary are the most popular destinations of Azerbaijani tourists, southern regions of the Czech Republic can also attract them.

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