Baku, Azerbaijan, April 25
By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:
Azerbaijan and Turkey are entering a new level of cooperation, Muslim Ibrahimov, an expert-economist, doctor of economic sciences, told Trend.
He stressed that Azerbaijan and Turkey are key economic partners.
“The trade turnover and the value of mutual investments between the two countries are growing,” Ibrahimov said. “Such projects implemented by the two countries as the Southern Gas Corridor create a new format of cooperation in the region. In general, they contribute to closer integration of Turkey with the countries of the South Caucasus region, with the exception of Armenia.”
Speaking about joint projects being implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey, he noted the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor project.
“Azerbaijan is developing the non-oil sector of economy, however, the country isn’t going to abandon oil and gas projects,” Ibrahimov said. “Azerbaijan will not only be an exporter of energy resources, but it can also receive additional profit from fuel transportation. In general, the project will contribute to the development of economy of both Azerbaijan and Turkey and all the involved countries.”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is on a visit to Turkey. As part of his visit on April 25, Ankara hosted the 7th Session of the Azerbaijan-Turkey High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. In particular, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of electronic signature and a Memorandum of Understanding on negotiations on the preferential trade agreement between Azerbaijan and Turkey were among the documents signed.
Both documents will make significant contribution to the development of trade and business ties between Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $573.101 million in the first three months of 2018, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.
The value of mutual investments for the years of cooperation amounted to about $22 billion.
In the reporting period, Azerbaijan invested $10.1 billion in Turkey, $8.7 billion of which were invested in the oil sector and $1.4 billion in the non-oil sector. The value of Turkish investments in Azerbaijan amounted to $11.7 billion, $8.96 billion of which were invested in the oil sector and $2.7 billion in the non-oil sector.