Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 17 / Trend /
A delegation of 10 Spanish companies specializing in alternative energy, construction, engineering, architecture and urban planning, water supply, and fire protection systems has arrived to Azerbaijan to discuss cooperation, the Azerbaijani Economic Development Ministry said on Wednesday.
The Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) has organized a meeting of Spanish businessmen with local companies operating in the relevant fields. The meetings are planned to be held in some Azerbaijani state bodies.
The visit will end on October 17.
Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Alfredo Bonet told Trend earlier that the areas of possible interest are infrastructure and tourism.
"Low activity of Spanish companies in the Azerbaijani market is a problem that must be resolved by the efforts of our government," he said.
He said the level of trade today between the two countries is low.
Spanish goods hit only 0.4 percent of the total volume of Azerbaijani imports.
"Spain exports building materials, chemical and pharmaceutical products to Azerbaijan," he said. "This is quite a diversified range of products, but in a very limited extent."
He said Spanish exports to Azerbaijan do not exceed 20-30 million euro per year, and this is a very low figure.
"Around 99 percent of Azerbaijan's exports to Spain fall to oil and oil products," he said.
He added that Azerbaijan's export structure reflects the economic structure of the country. One of the main tasks of the government is to diversify the economy because the share of the oil and gas sector in the economy is high.
"We must take actions to improve the situation," he said.
Spain has rich experience and know-how developed over the last 20-30 years in many sectors, which are very important for the future development of the country, Bonet said.
"We were in a similar situation like Azerbaijan now," he said. "We had to build the technological and economic infrastructure for the various sectors, to invest in new kinds of activity and we did it."