Azerbaijan, Turkey enjoy great opportunities to boost co-op

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Jafarova

There are great opportunities for boosting cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey in the field of industry.

This remark was made by Azerbaijan’s Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev at a meeting with Turkish Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Isik in Baku on December 3.

Mustafayev saod about 2,500 Turkish companies are operating in Azerbaijan, and these companies account over 36 percent of the total number of foreign companies operating in Azerbaijan.

“Turkey also acts as a contractor in numerous projects carried out in Azerbaijan. As in other fields, successful energy cooperation between the two countries is underway as part of the Shah Deniz-2, Trans-Adriatic (TAP) and the Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) gas pipelines,” he added.

Mustafayev believes there are huge capacities for expansion of economic ties between the two countries, including industrial cooperation.

Isik, for his part, mentioned the importance of expansion of developing Azerbaijani-Turkish relations.

“It is very important to develop ties in the field of industry between our countries, and conduct exchange of experience,” he noted.

Azerbaijan and Turkey's relations have always been strong due to their common culture and history and the mutual intelligibility of Turkish and Azerbaijani languages.

Turkey was the first country in the world to recognize Azerbaijan's independence in 1991 and has been a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan in its efforts to consolidate its independence, preserve its territorial integrity, and realize its economic potential that arises from the rich natural resources of the Caspian Sea.

Economic projects, jointly implemented by Azerbaijan and Turkey, are bringing these countries together and strengthening their cooperation. The two countries' economies and cooperation have reached a high level.

SOCAR is one of the world's most well-established oil companies, active in Turkey since May 30, 2008. SOCAR is involved in a number of major investment projects in Turkey, including the construction of TANAP, Star refinery, and others. The volume of investment of SOCAR in Turkey's economy will reach $5 billion by late 2014.

According to Azerbaijan’s State Statistics Committee, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to around $1.462 billion in January-October 2014.