Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 19
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Estonian companies are interested in investing in the IT sector of Azerbaijan, Deputy Secretary General for Business Development of Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs Viljar Lubi said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“Estonia and Azerbaijan have friendly relations and they have reached a level of close partnership in recent years,” Lubi said, reminding that Estonia was one of the first countries supporting Azerbaijan’s admission to the Council of Europe.
Both countries are connected with a number of agreements on cooperation in transportation, customs relations, mutual investments protection and other spheres, he added.
Azerbaijani investments to Estonian economy have already reached 2.2 million euros and they are mainly attracted to retail business and real estate, Lubi said, underlining the increase of Azerbaijani investments.
“There are 16 Azerbaijani companies in Estonia and the same number of Estonian companies working in cooperation with Azerbaijan. A number of Azerbaijani companies from logistics, consultations, IT and restaurant spheres also open their branch offices in Estonia,” he said.
"Azerbaijani investors may be surprised by business simplicity in Estonia. Among the advantages of the country are favorable tax environment and qualified labor force," according to Lubi.
“Software development, mechanical engineering, hi-tech systems and many other sectors offer competitive environment,” he added.
Closer ties between Azerbaijan and Estonia have also affected the trade turnover, effectively increasing it, Lubi noted.
“Both countries trade various goods. In recent years, main articles of export from Estonia to Azerbaijan are machinery [68 percent], timber and wood production [14 percent], paper and cardboard [5 percent]. Estonia, on its part, mainly imports from Azerbaijan foodstuffs, such as nut, juice and water,” he said.
According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover with Estonia reached $3.23 million in 2017 (a near 5-percent increase for the year), with Azerbaijani exports totaling almost $700,000.
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