details added (first version posted at 10:54)
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18
Trend:
The EU countries have invested $20 billion in Azerbaijan's fixed assets for the last 10 years, said Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijani minister of economy.
Mustafayev made this statement at the second Azerbaijan-EU business forum, which is being held in Baku May 18.
"The EU countries made direct investments worth $2.7 billion in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector, that is 35 percent of the total volume of direct investments in this sector of the country," he said.
"Azerbaijan is a very important country for the EU," Mustafayev stressed, adding that the Azerbaijan-EU developing relations testify to it.
"Azerbaijan and the EU countries have held 98 business forums for the last four years," the minister said, adding that two of them have been recently held.
"Thus, the Azerbaijan-Netherlands business forum was held May 17," the minister said. "A delegation from the Movement of French Enterprises (MEDEF) visited Baku last week. "All this testifies to the fact that Europe focuses its attention on Azerbaijan."
The minister also added that the EU is Azerbaijan's main trade partner.
"The share of trade turnover with the EU hit 47.5 percent of a total volume of Azerbaijan's foreign trade in 2015, while 43 percent in the first quarter of 2016," the minister stressed.