BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.3
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The priorities for Austria’s cooperation with Azerbaijan in 2021 are clearly to continue the path the countries have long gone together: investment in key growth sectors, exchange of expertise, continuation of reforms and mutual participation in key growth and development sectors, as well as strengthening of legal frameworks for investment, Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs told Trend.
“Austria is in many respects a highly specialized partner. However, first we have to overcome the serious setbacks caused by the SARS Covid-19 pandemic of 2020/21. This hit both our economies and it also hit global networks of distribution. All this has to be restored. One of the fields for a vital Austrian role is agriculture where further major reforms were announced. Azerbaijan is perfect for cultivation. Another field is the re-establishment of tourism. Both our countries are keen to host foreign guests again and certainly Azerbaijan will continue expanding her high level tourism infrastructure. Austria stands ready with expertise, experience and concepts.
Austria and Azerbaijan cooperate very well in the energy sphere. Although Nabucco did not materialize the way we had wished, Azerbaijan is now a noteworthy part of the diversification of Europe’s energy supply. We just see Azerbaijan becoming a gas supplier via the Balkans and Italy. The first gas has recently been transported from the Caspian to the EU. For Austria this is welcome news. More specifically, we see the expansion of the National SOCAR State oil company in Austria. In Styria and other parts of Austria, there are already some Socar petrol stations which function also as a well visible advertisement for the country,” the ministry said.
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