President Hollande to visit Azerbaijan
By Nigar Orujova
French President Francois Hollande will visit Azerbaijan this year, said Pascal Monnier, French Ambassador to Baku.
The president will discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations in Baku, he said, noting that the exact date of the visit has not been determined yet.
Hollande’s last visit to Baku was in May 2014, during which the Azerbaijani-French business meeting was held. The sides discussed important political and economic issues, perspectives and new areas of bilateral cooperation.
The envoy further added that Azerbaijan and France are keen on strengthening relations between the regions. Monnier will visit Mingachevir - the fourth largest city in Azerbaijan on April 6 to this end.
Here, he will hold a series of meetings, to discuss the strengthening of cooperation between the city and French regions, as well as preparation for the European Games to be held in Baku and Mingachevir on June 12-28.
Azerbaijan and France are actively developing their 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.
There is a great potential for the development of relations in the sphere of agriculture and wine-making as well.
Some 91 companies from France are involved in the oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan as subcontractors. At the same time, over 50 French companies are involved in the non-oil sectors' projects, including the first Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite Azerspace, and a plant for solid waste recycling.
Moreover, France plans to provide French companies operating in Turkey with facilities to enter Azerbaijani market.
A workshop organized by the Azerbaijani Industry and Economy Ministry together with the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and the Franco - Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce is expected to be held in Baku in late May. The event will discuss the possibility of cooperation in Azerbaijan.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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