Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 29
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The volume of UK investments in Azerbaijan's economy has exceeded $21 billion, Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry of Azerbaijan Sahil Babayev said.
He made the remarks during Azerbaijani-British Business Forum taking place in Baku Oct.29.
"The UK ranks first among the foreign investors on the volume of investments in Azerbaijan's economy," Babayev said. "Along with this, the UK ranks second on the volume of investment in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector. Their volume exceeds $1.3 billion."
He said that Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom are strategic partners and cooperate closely within the framework of various platforms. Babayev said that business meetings between Azerbaijani and British companies and entrepreneurs play an important role in developing relations between the two countries.
"We have an inter-parliamentary group of cooperation, at the same time an intergovernmental commission has been established, and its first meeting is expected in the coming days," he said. "I believe that the intergovernmental commission will make a great contribution to the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Great Britain."
"In recent years, the number of business meetings between the two countries has also increased, five similar meetings were held for the last year and a half, as a result of which there emerged the possibility of close cooperation between the business circles of our countries, a broad platform to discuss various joint projects was created," he said.
Babayev said that educational cooperation plays an important role in relations between the two countries, and stressed that the UK occupies a leading position on the number of universities included in the state program on education of Azerbaijani students abroad.
"Currently, the program includes 38 British universities and the number of Azerbaijani students trained under this program in British schools has exceeded 900 people," he said.
Babayev said that the two countries have excellent opportunities for further expansion of cooperation in trade, investment, tourism, ICT, as well as various infrastructure and transit projects.
The foreign trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reduced more than twofold during the year, amounting to $317.65 million in January-September.
