Azerbaijan-US plan to develop co-op in all spheres

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan and the U.S. are discussing possibilities for enhancing the business cooperation between the two countries at a business forum in Baku on November 19.

Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Sahil Babayev highlighted current relations between the two countries, saying Azerbaijan attached great importance to boosting cooperation in international level.

Deputy Assistant of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Michael Lally provided an insight into economic and trade relations of both countries.

The US is interested in developing the cooperation with Azerbaijan in non-oil sphere, Lally told reporters.

The forum is attended by the US business delegation which is on a visit to the country.

Lally said that the delegation’s visit is aimed at developing the trade and economic relations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan and expand the cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries.

For this purpose, representatives of 15 U.S. companies operating in various spheres have come to Azerbaijan, he added.

According to him, this visit will expand cooperation not only in the oil sector.

“Visit of representatives of such number of companies from very different sectors will expand cooperation in non-oil sector,” he said. “We already have a good example of trade cooperation between the two countries, as last year the trade turnover between the U.S. and Azerbaijan reached $2 billion. We also have examples of successful cooperation in aviation and space.”

Today, the U.S. companies are represented in Azerbaijan in the spheres of construction, industry, services, bank and insurance sectors, the deputy assistant said.

He noted that the representatives of the U.S. companies will hold around 100 meetings in Azerbaijan.

The US Charge d'Affaires to the country Dereck Hogan told reporters that the US supports the measures taken by Azerbaijani government to develop the private sector in the country.

The US welcomes the stimulation of development of the private sector in Azerbaijan, as well as the work carried out by the country to attract foreign investments, Hogan said.

He added that the US is ready to render not only diplomatic, but also technical assistance so that the goals set by Azerbaijani government would be achieved.

At the forum, Azerbaijan also urged the U.S. companies to refrain from illegal activities in Nagorno-Karabakh, the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.