March 14
Deloitte offers Azerbaijan to apply new customs regime
Deloitte international audit company has offered Azerbaijan to consider an opportunity of establishing the free customs zones and applying the customs regimes for product processing, Emil Garayev, senior manager at Deloitte's tax and legal department, said at a conference dedicated to the development and future prospects in the customs system, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AMCHAM). He said that the duties and taxes imposed on imported products pose certain obstacles to the importers' activity. Garayev added that therefore, the new regime can be one of the compromise solutions. "Processing of goods on the customs territory is a certain regime," he said. "During this regime, the imported products are used on the territory for processing by fully exempting from customs duties if the processed products are taken from the customs territory at a certain period."
China intends to expand co-op with Azerbaijan in transportation sphere
China attaches great importance to the development of transportation corridors and is ready to expand the cooperation with Azerbaijan in this and other spheres, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. He made the remarks during the meeting with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov who is on a working visit to China.
Mammadyarov, for his part, said Azerbaijan supports the Silk Road Economic Belt project initiated by China, adding that Azerbaijan is an important part of East-West and North-South transportation corridors.
March 15
Azerbaijan, South Korea expanding co-op in maritime transport
Azerbaijan's State Maritime Administration and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea signed two memorandums of understanding, the administration's press service reported.
"Memorandum of Cooperation between the State Maritime Administration of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea" and "Memorandum of Understanding on mutual recognition of certificates (diplomas) issued on the basis of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978" were signed.
Azerbaijan, Turkey ink 6 documents
Azerbaijan and Turkey signed six documents in Ankara after the fifth meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
The signing ceremony took place with participation of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Azerbaijani parliament passes report on governmental activity-2015
The Azerbaijani parliament passed a report at a plenary session. The report concerned the activity of the Azerbaijani government in 2015. While discussing the report, Ogtay Asadov, speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, said that in terms of intensifying the negative trends, decline in economic activity, the country's GDP growth by 1.1 percent in 2015 is satisfactory. "The growth of economy was mainly achieved through the non-oil sector, including non-oil industry," he said.
March 16
Azerbaijani banks to reserve 1% of deposits in Central Bank
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has increased the reserve requirements for the deposits in foreign currency from 0.5 percent to one percent. This is while the reserve requirements for deposits in national currency, as well as for securities have remained unchanged (0.5 percent). The changes will be effective from May 1, 2016.
March 17
Swiss company becomes Azerbaijani Sumgait Chemical Park's resident
The Swiss company SIKA has become a resident of the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, said Niyazi Safarov, the Azerbaijani deputy economy minister. He made the remarks at the presentation of the park's residents in Baku. The number of the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park's residents has reached six. SIKA will be engaged in the production of raw materials for building mixtures and finished products, according to him.
The director of Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park Nazim Talibov noted that the company will build a plant with annual production capacity of 5,000 tons on the park's territory.
The initial investment of the Swiss company in Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park will be $5.3 million. The company was established in 1910 and it has over 150 factories and plants in 80 countries of the world.
March 18
Azerbaijan, Malaysia open direct air traffic
Azerbaijan's freight air carrier Silk Way West Airlines signed an agreement with Malaysia Airlines Cargo, Malaysian media reported. The agreement envisages the mutual use of the aircraft fleet and the expansion of aviation route networks in different regions of the world.