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Turkish minister to arrive in Azerbaijan

Business Materials 26 July 2010 18:09 (UTC +04:00)
Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan will arrive in Azerbaijan July 27, the Azerbaijani Economic Development Ministry reported today
Turkish minister to arrive in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 26 / Trend, I. Khalilova /

Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan will arrive in Azerbaijan July 27, the Azerbaijani Economic Development Ministry reported today.

The minister will be accompanied by a business delegation.

The delegation of Turkish businessmen will meet with their Azerbaijani counterparts July 29. More than 100 businessmen will attend the meeting from the construction, food, energy, chemicals, tourism, health, furniture and agriculture industries.

According to the Azerbaijani Confederation of Entrepreneurs, the delegation was invited for the visit by Azerbaijani Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev.

"The aim of the visit is to develop economic ties and to establish close business cooperation between businessmen from both countries," the confederation said.

The confederation met with Chief Adviser for Foreign Trade of the Turkish Embassy Gazi Bilgin July 20. The sides discussed the confederation's participation in organizing the meeting between the Turkish and Azerbaijani businessmen, as well as bilateral talks.

The confederation's President Mammad Musayev said that he was pleased at having been tasked with organizing the event.

Turkey is Azerbaijan's major partner in regional projects, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, and the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku Railway.

Azerbaijan and Turkey actively cooperate not only in the energy sphere, but also in the non-oil sphere. Turkish investments in the non-oil sector have hit $2.5 billion.

Turkish businessmen in Azerbaijan today mostly work in services and trade. However, their participation should also increase in other priority sectors such as tourism, hotels, furniture production and small- and medium-sized business in genearl, the Azerbaijani government told Trend.

Azerbaijan has created a strong legal base with Turkey, which creates favorable conditions for making investments in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Turkey have signed a protocol on cooperation, as well as agreements on double taxation and the mutual protection of investments. The Turkish company TPAO's investments in the Azerbaijani oil sector will reach $4.5 billion by 2012.

In January-May, foreign trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to roughly $310 million, which is 8.2 percent less than during the same period of 2009.

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