Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 20
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan intends to organize presentation of its wine products in free trade zones (FTZs) in China, a source in the Azerbaijani government told Trend Sept. 20.
According to the source, for this purpose, special showrooms will be organized at FTZs.
“For today, Russia is the main buyer of Azerbaijani wine,” said the source. “The Azerbaijani government believes that China can become the second major market.”
The source added that Azerbaijani companies also supply wine to 20 other countries, including Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, the US and Europe, however the export volumes are very small.
According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, in January-August this year, the country produced 726,500 decaliters (1 decaliter is equal to 10 liters) of wine. The source noted that only 10-15 percent of wine produced in Azerbaijan is exported.
Azerbaijani government representatives repeatedly talked about intentions to expand exports of wine to China.
This issue was discussed in August by winemakers from more than ten local companies at a meeting in Baku.
Azerbaijan’s trade representative in China Teymur Nadiroglu, who also participated in the meeting, informed the entrepreneurs about the Chinese wine market.
Azerbaijani companies signed an agreement in 2016 to deliver 500,000 bottles of wine to China. The agreement was reached during international exhibitions in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.