The first Business-Forum Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan: Perspectives of Cooperation has been held in Kazakhstan Capital, Astana today, Trend Correspondent to Astana reports. The main subject of the Forum was to increase the commodity turnover between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as well as measures to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
For recent years, the commodity turnover between the two countries has significantly decreased. This year, the turnover exceeded $147 mln. According to experts, the main reason of the decrease was reduction of Kazakhstan corn and gas to Azerbaijan.
Unfortunately, the current situation is as follows: disappearing of just one product from the commodity turnover will trigger the reduction by 50-60%, Heydar Babayev, Azerbaijan Economic development Minister said.
Addressing businessmen of the two countries, the Azerbaijan Minister asked them to more attentively view all possibilities to develop bilateral relations between the two countries.
Today, Azerbaijan could offer its oil industry specialists and oil and gas equipment to Kazakhstan. Everybody is well aware that Kazakhstan is about to tremendous development of the Caspian shelf. We have offshore working experience, high-skilled staff, oil equipment that we produce ourselves, Latif Gandilov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan, told journalists in a break of the Forum.
In addition, he added that there were many possibilities to cooperate in the financial sphere.
Our investors have interests in a possible activity in Almaty, Kazakhstan financial centre. We are interested in your (Kazakhstan's) investing into our economy. Particularly, we think that Kazakhstan TuranAlemBank could put its capital to Azerbaijan as well as it is doing it in Georgia, he said.
The Kazakhstan capital might become a place on the mutual cooperation. Glancing at the tempo of its development, Azerbaijan construction companies see good perspectives for themselves. One Azerbaijani company engaged in this field has already entered this market, and the construction of a new housing complex named Caspian Palace will be completed in the western bank of Astana the next year. There are also many possibilities to develop trade on a mutual advantageous basis in the agriculture. And the matter concerns not only corn but also delivering fresh fruits and vegetables from Azerbaijan. I am sure we have a lot of mutual interests, conditions for the development of trade as well, said the Minister.
Kazakhstan businessmen are expected to pay a return visit to Baku in the near future. Up to date, 36 small-scale entrepreneurs with the participation of Azerbaijani entrepreneurs have been registered in Kazakhstan. Thirteen out of them are joint-stock enterprises.