Azerbaijan, Baku, 21 January / corr Trend F.Rzayev / Italy has shown interest in upgrading its cooperation with Azerbaijan in the non-oil sector. The development of such cooperation will be the focus of discussions to be held by Emma Bonin, the Italian Foreign Trade Minister, during his visit to Azerbaijan possibly in February, Emil Karimov, the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Italy, said in a telephone interview from Rome on 21 January.
" Italy takes second place amongst trade partners in Azerbaijan, the cooperation of which is developed in small and medium-scale business and is important for the non-oil sector," the Ambassador said.
According to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan, in January to November 2007 the goods turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy made up over $1bln. Over the 11 months of 2007 Azerbaijan has imported goods worth over $121mln from Italy and exported goods for of over $879mln. "The two countries have great potential to expand its cooperation in areas such as light industry, agriculture, tourism, which are well developed in Italy, the Ambassador said. The Italian Foreign Minister will discuss such prospects with the Azerbaijan Government, he said.