Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4
By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:
Austrian companies are showing interest in the free trade zone, which is being created in the Alat township in Baku, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Austria Galib Israfilov told Trend July 4.
Currently, the transport sector, and, in particular, the Baku International Sea Trade Port, which will be included into the free trade zone, where there are many interesting sectors for cooperation for the Austrian investors, is the main sphere for investments of Austrian companies in Azerbaijan, the diplomat said.
The free trade zone covering the territory of the Baku International Sea Trade Port in the Alat township of Baku’s Garadagh District is being created in accordance with a decree signed by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev March 17, 2016.
Considering that Azerbaijan has chosen reformation of the economy, modernization of transport infrastructure, creation of a number of technological and industrial parks as a priority, the ambassador expressed hope that more Austrian companies will be attracted to the cooperation with Azerbaijan.
Austrian companies are interested in cooperation in tourism as well, in particular, in the construction of hotels, he added.
Representatives of Austrian business circles also see good opportunities for investing in the agricultural sector, which includes production, processing and packaging of finished products, he noted.
Considering the attractiveness of the Azerbaijani economy, its constant improvement and development, more and more Austrian companies are showing interest in economic cooperation, the ambassador said.
“Azerbaijan's investments have been made in Austria, but not very much,” he said.
The diplomat added that Azerbaijan’s investments have been made mainly in the tourism sector, which is currently booming and reaches 10-12 percent of Austria's GDP.
"The big distance between the two countries, the fact that Azerbaijani companies are more involved in regional projects and are oriented to the markets of neighboring countries, in particular, Turkey, Russia, Iran, Georgia and Central Asia, as well as certain requirements for entering the European market, which should be overcome, create certain difficulties for closer cooperation in the field of investments,” he said.
“But all these issues can be solved and it is necessary to improve the approach," he said.
Speaking about trade relations between the two countries, Israfilov said that the highest level of trade turnover between the two countries was registered in 2015, when it exceeded half a billion euros (525 million euros).
Most of the trade turnover accounted for oil products (about 60 percent), but non-oil products, namely, agricultural, machine-building products and petrochemicals were also observed in the trade turnover structure.
As of 2016, the trade turnover volume between the countries amounted to 150 million euros, which is by 20 percent less compared to 2015.
The decline in the trade turnover volume was affected by the economic crisis, both in the Austrian market and in the world as a whole, the decline in oil prices.
According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Austria amounted to $59.9 million in January-May 2017.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan with Austria ($56.5 million) increased by $3.4 million or 6 percent in January-May 2017 compared to the same period of 2016.