Azerbaijan, Belarus keen to expand trade, economic cooperation
By Fatima Hasanova
Azerbaijan and Belarus have discussed the expansion of trade and economic cooperation, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers and Belarus media.
The discussion took place during the meeting between Azerbaijan's Prime Minister Ali Asadov and Belarus's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko, held in Baku.
During the meeting, participants expressed their satisfaction with the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus in a variety of sectors and discussed the prospects for future cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
“Relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan, based on the strong friendship between the leaders of our countries and the two brotherly peoples, are in the nature of a strategic partnership. It is natural that the difficult global political situation has not had any negative impact on our relations. On the contrary, we have always supported each other in difficult times, and this tradition continues. Mutually beneficial economic cooperation is the flagship of further development of relations between Belarus and Azerbaijan,” Petrishenko said.
The deputy prime minister pointed out that the interest to expand trade and economic cooperation on equal and mutually beneficial terms was repeatedly expressed during bilateral meetings this year.
“Following the visit of the Prime Minister of Belarus to Azerbaijan in May, the meeting of the heads of government in Cholpon-Ata in August, as well as during the 12th meeting of the intergovernmental commission, held on June 1, we identified specific areas of cooperation in the economic sector and signed the relevant documents. Ensuring their implementation is one of the commission's tasks,” Petrishenko stressed.
He also expressed confidence that the meeting will help with the implementation of bilateral agreements, discuss plans for visits and events, and outline specific areas for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation.
“I will give just one example of such new opportunities that we can quickly respond to. Taking into account the intensive growth of Azerbaijan's transit potential and the significant need for freight railcars, we are ready to supply the country with various types of railcars - from oil tankers to freight railway platforms for transporting containers, as well as the containers themselves. The capacities of two Belarusian car-building plants allow us to do this in the shortest possible time,” the minister said.
“I am convinced that we have many reserves and mutually beneficial areas of cooperation that we can use for the benefit of our countries. By joint efforts, we will be able to ensure that our economic cooperation reaches a qualitatively higher level,” Petrishenko concluded.
Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Belarus were established on June 11, 1993. The two countries are cooperating in various sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, transport, remote sensing services, etc.
The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $273.1 million for Jan-Sept 2022, including Azerbaijan’s exports to Belarus for $84.4 million and imports for $188.7 million. In 2021 Azerbaijani-Belarus trade turnover reached $424.5 million.
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