A two-day Azeri-Kazak business forum opened in Baku on June 30, to discuss a possible scheme for the supply of fruits and vegetables from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan.
Addressing the forum, deputy Minister for Economic Development, Mikayil Jabbarov also said that Azerbaijan could also become a crucial transit route for Kazakhstan, allowing the Kazakh business to have access to the markets of the Black Sea region.
He also informed the Kazakh side of business developments in Azerbaijan, stressing that the Government supports agricultural manufacturers through different ways, including tax exemption and incentives for land tax, which has one of the lowest rates compared to other neighboring countries.
“There is an apparent expansion of the non-oil sector of the economy, and the exports of corresponding goods from Azerbaijan to CIS countries more than doubled during a year, from 2003 to 2004,” Jabbarov said.
Speaking of the potential for the expansion of goods turnover between the two countries, he made the emphasis on the necessity to raise the efficiency of bilateral business ties. “In respect of cooperation in the field of production and processing of agricultural output, we are interested both in exporting these goods to Kazakhstan and setting up joint businesses with Kazakh interest,” Jabbarov added.
He also expressed satisfaction with the growing tendency of the return of the Azeri business to traditional staples, like Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, etc.
For his part, the head of the Kazakh delegation and chairman of the Kazakh Committee for Trade and Tourism Regulation under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Kayrbek Uskenbayev stressed on the necessity of confidence of the supplier in demand for their products on the market, with the consumer pending uninterrupted supplies of the required goods.
“Therefore, it is very important to introduce the system of futures supplies,” Uskenbayev said. He also noted the necessity to lift overall business вЂ" not just individual вЂ" obstacles on the way of transportation of goods from the exporter to ultimate consumer, by eliminating вЂ�human factor.’
Over the past two year, the annual amount of goods turnover between the countries has increased 2.5 times to 300 million U.S. dollars, and there is a huge potential for further growth.
Tomorrow, the Kazakh delegation will visit Guba region, to get better acquainted with the activity of businesses involved in the production and professing of agricultural goods.