Iran-Azerbaijan trade turnover soars by 11 pct
By Rasana Gasimova
Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with its southern neighbour Iran increased by 11 percent year-on-year in 2019, amounting to $500 million, Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev said on February 11.
"Iranian entrepreneurs invested $3.5 billion in Azerbaijani economy. In addition, 1,614 Iranian companies operate in industry, construction, agriculture and other sectors in Azerbaijan,” the official said while addressing the event on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran held in Baku.
Mustafayev also said that last year, 400,000 tons of cargo was transported through the North-South international transport corridor, which is 45 percent higher than the same indicator in 2018.
He also mentioned that flights are carried along the Baku-Tehran, Baku-Tabriz and Baku-Mashhad routes.
Futhermore, he emphasized that Iran was one of the first countries that condemned the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
“The fair position shown by Iran regarding the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is fully consistent with the spirit of ties between the two peoples,” Mustafayev said.
He noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to relations with Iran in both bilateral and multilateral formats. Activities of bilateral working groups played a large role in the development of Azerbaijan-Iran ties, adding that mutual trust promotes mutual investment, he mentioned.
For his part, Iran’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Javad Jahangirzadeh said that relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are at the highest level.
He noted that numerous contracts signed between the two countries as well as joint projects in the field of economy, trade, industry, agriculture, education and tourism, including the International North-South Transport Corridor, confirm the potential for developing relations.
“Iran wants to have good relations with all neighboring countries. Based on common religious, cultural and historical ties, I can say that the Iranian-Azerbaijani brotherhood and friendship is eternal. Sincere relations between President Ilham Aliyev and President Hassan Rouhani are a strong foundation for relations between the two countries,” Iranian ambassador noted.
Jahangirzadeh added that there are innumerable indicators proving the strengthening and development of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.
“Iran is the country most visited by Azerbaijani citizens, and this fact is an indicator of fraternal relations between the two peoples. Mutual visits by officials of both countries, extensive trade relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are an indicator of relations at the highest level,” he stressed.
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