Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 11 / Trend, E. Tariverdiyeva /
A Swiss delegation headed by Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, Minister of Energy, Environment, Communication and Transportation will make an official visit to Azerbaijan on Nov.14, 2011.
The visit is taking place as part of the cooperation between the two countries in the energy field, established when they signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2007, the Swiss embassy in Baku reported.
The Federal Councillor is excepted to meet with President Ilham Aliyev and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev are planned.
The prime objective of the visit is to give support to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, in which the Swiss company EGL, the Norwegian Statoil and the German company E.On-Ruhrgas are involved.
The TAP project aims to provide the capacity for transmitting up to 10 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Azerbaijan to Italy, passing through Turkey, Greece and Albania. It is due to be up and running by 2017. TAP is competing with two other pipeline projects to transport natural gas from Azerbaijan to Europe.
As part of the measures to implement the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding, discussions will also be held on the ways in which the two countries can work together on renewable energies and energy efficiency. The Swiss delegation in Azerbaijan is made up of representatives from the field of business and science.
In October 2007, Switzerland and Azerbaijan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on energy, setting in place a framework of increased cooperation on an economic, technological and scientific level. The document also aims to make it easier for private companies to cooperate and invest in the energy sectors of both countries, so that the security of supply of natural gas and petroleum to Switzerland can be improved.