Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Latvian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Yuris Maklakovs has received a Caspian Energy delegation headed by the President and Editor-in-Chief of Caspian Energy International Media Group, Natalya Aliyeva.

The sides discussed various topics of cooperation within the framework of the Caspian European Club and Caspian Energy International Media Group as well as the possibility of expanding contacts between the business communities of Azerbaijan, Latvia, and the EU as a whole.

Maklakovs emphasized great opportunities for investment and business cooperation in agriculture, food industry, production field, technologies as well as the expansion of transport ties of the two countries in hopes of bringing the Caspian and Baltic regions much closer to each other.

The ambassador expressed an interest in seeing the publication of articles and interviews discussing the economies of the EU and Latvia on the pages of Caspian Energy.

Maklakovs gave an exclusive interview to Caspian Energy. Speaking about new opportunities of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Latvia, the ambassador emphasized, “We are not satisfied with current indicators of the goods turnover, since they can be much better. At present, the turnover of goods between Azerbaijan and Latvia totals $27-28 million. Basically, it mainly consists of exports from Latvia. I think there is great potential for further development between our countries.”

The ambassador also touched upon the possibilities of an expansion in economic cooperation, spoke about prospects for the development of the Baltic energy market, and touched upon issues of integration of transport routes, migration, and energy cooperation.

The ambassador also added that preparations for holding Latvian Days in Azerbaijan is currently underway, which will help strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Latvia recognized Azerbaijan’s independence in 1992. Bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1994. The Azerbaijani Embassy in Latvia began to function in 2005, and the Latvian Embassy in Azerbaijan was opened a year later.

Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with Latvia within regional organizations, including the Union of the Baltic States. This cooperation is important to intensify the process of integration in the Baltic-Black Sea-Caspian region. Latvia considers Azerbaijan to be Europe’s the main source for energy resources in the Black Sea-Caspian region.

Latvia is still interested in joining the railways of the Baltic States with the railway projects of the Caucasus and Central Asia with the help of Baltic-Transit and Zubr container trains. It also sees Azerbaijan as an important partner for the development of transit transportation to Central Asia and Iran.

The Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee states that trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Latvia stood at $10.5 million in 2014.

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

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