...

Azerbaijan’s trade balance with Germany remains positive thanks to strong energy export

Oil&Gas Materials 26 March 2021 17:21 (UTC +04:00)
Azerbaijan’s trade balance with Germany remains positive thanks to strong energy export

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 26

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Due to its strong energy export sector, Azerbaijan’s trade balance with Germany remained positive in 2020, Stefan Kägebein, Regional Director Eastern Europe at the German Eastern Business Association told Trend.

He noted that according to the latest figures of the German foreign trade statistics, the overall bilateral trade volume declined by 39 percent in 2020 in comparison with 2019.

"German exports to Azerbaijan declined by 19 percent and exports from Azerbaijan to Germany by 45.6 percent year on year. Both countries exchanged goods with a value of 1.79 billion euro in 2019, in 2020, this amount decreased to 1.09 billion euro. Due to its strong energy export sector, Azerbaijan’s trade balance with Germany remained positive in 2020: Azerbaijan exported double as much as Germany delivered to Azerbaijan," he said.

In Kägebein’s words, these figures show, that COVID-19 pandemic influenced the trade relations heavily.

"Due to i.a. certain travel restrictions and decreasing demand and prices for energy products, the volume of exchanged goods shrank. We do hope, that lifted travel restrictions and a recovering economy will boost bilateral economic relations. A quick vaccination campaign will be a crucial factor for this," he said.

Kägebein also noted that the German – Azerbaijani trade relations are mainly energy relations.

"According to latest trade statistics, almost 98 percent of Germany's imports from Azerbaijan is crude oil. German exports to Azerbaijan mainly consist of car-parts, machinery, chemical products and electronic products. Having the Transanatolian Pipeline operative since the beginning of 2021, this connection supports the German and European sourcing of natural gas by diversifying the sources, he noted.

"But Azerbaijan pursues a strategy of diversification of its economy. This strategy is the cornerstone to attract more foreign trade partners and investors. German Eastern Business Association discussed these opportunities during a German – Azerbaijani business panel in December 2020," he said.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @nargiz_sadikh

Tags:
Latest

Latest