Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr I. Khalilova / A meeting of the Azerbaijani-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation will take place in mid-November, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Sergey Naryshkin, said to journalists on 31 August after his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Azerbaijani First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov.
"We decided with Yagub Eyyubov to discuss all existing problems and to strictly control working groups established within the framework of intergovernmental commissions," Naryshkin said.
According to the Russian politician, the sides also agreed to settle several legal documents of special importance for the economies of the two countries, as well as an intergovernmental agreement on mutual investment promotion, before the meeting of the intergovernmental commission.
There is a huge potential for economic cooperation for Azerbaijan and Russia, Naryshkin said. He noted with satisfaction the rise in trade turnover between the countries in the first half of 2007, despite a decrease in imports due to Azerbaijan's refusal to purchase Russian gas from 1 January 2007.
"The volume of trade turnover has not decreased. The import of machines, equipment from Azerbaijan to Russia, and of highway engineering from Russia to Azerbaijan is increasing," he said.
According to Naryshkin, the economic profiles reflect how Azerbaijani enterprises actively restore their performance and increase their assets and production potential.
"A rise not only in state investments but also in foreign private investments into Azerbaijan reflects a favourable investment climate in Azerbaijan," the Russian Deputy Prime Minister said.
Labour migration, which has risen to a civilized level in accordance with the decisions made at the end of 2006, was also touched upon during the meeting in Baku, the Deputy Prime Minister said.
" Azerbaijan understood Russia's aim. We wanted to put labour migration in good order,' he said.
"Russian and Azerbaijani Governments are interested in expanding trade and economic cooperation and mutual penetration of capital, but there are several administrative barriers we plan to remove," Naryshkin said.