Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 1
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
The discussions, between Azerbaijan and Russia, covering the issues of investments, innovations and tourism sector will take place in September, Elena Lashkina, assistant to the Russian minister of Economic Development, told Trend.
These topics will be at top of the agenda for the eighth Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum, to be held in Stavropol on September 28.
"Besides the plenary session, with the participation of representatives from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, as well as other distinguished guests of the forum, five roundtables will be held,” she said.
“Russia-Azerbaijan industrial cooperation,” “The development of tourism as an important factor in attracting investments,” “Innovations in healthcare: the main areas for expanding cooperation,” “Strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian sphere,” “Development of bilateral cooperation in the agro-industrial complex” will be the topics of the roundtables,” Lashkina said.
“A number of agreements on humanitarian, cultural and economic ties are planned to be signed between the Stavropol Region of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan as part of the forum,” Lashkina said.
"The list of other agreements for signing at the forum is being compiled," she added.
As for the forum participants, Lashkina said that, the final list has not yet been approved.
Nevertheless, she added that the representatives of such companies as TransAero Tours Center, Gazprombank, Lukoil, Geotec, Pax and Astellas have already been invited.
The eighth Russia-Azerbaijan interregional forum was held in Baku in November of 2016. Twelve documents were signed following the forum.
Russia is one of the main trade and economic partners of Azerbaijan. During the years of cooperation, both countries signed more than 170 different documents, of which more than 50 cover the economic sphere.
Around 40 Russian regions have already signed bilateral agreements on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation with Azerbaijani partners.
To date, Azerbaijan has invested $1 billion in the Russian economy, while Russia - $3 billion in the Azerbaijani economy.
According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to $1.1 billion in January-July 2017, $329 million of that amount accounted for the export to Russia.