Baku hosts Azerbaijan-Russia business forum

Azerbaijani and Russian business people have come together in Baku for a joint forum aimed at exploring prospects for boosting cooperation in a wide range of fields.

The Russian delegation has included nearly 130 businessmen from the fields of industry, energy, agriculture, tourism, education and construction, while Azerbaijan has been represented by government officials and representatives of nearly 80 companies.

The business forum has been co-organized by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economic Development, Azerbaijan Export & Investment Promotion Foundation and Stavropol Governorate.

Speaking to the forum, Azerbaijani deputy prime minister Ali Hasanov praised the Azerbaijan-Russia relations, which he described as “developing at a very rapid pace”.

“Strategic cooperation between our countries shows itself the most in bilateral trade and economic cooperation. Last year trade between our countries was 1.816 billion US dollars, and this makes 60 percent of the total volume of Azerbaijan`s trade with CIS countries.”

Hasanov said: “Azerbaijan is among the world`s most rapidly developing economies and also leads CIS”, adding “the country`s course of economic reforms, once launched by national leader Heydar Aliyev, is today being successfully continued by President Ilham Aliyev”.

Hasanov expressed confidence the forum would “contribute to boosting cooperation between Azerbaijan and Stavropol”.

Governor of Stavropol Valery Gaevsky said he met with the Azerbaijani leader prior to the forum, adding “Mr. Aliyev is very well familiar with the natural and economic potential of Stavropol”.

“During our talk Mr. President stressed the importance of developing overall cooperation between Azerbaijan and Stavropol.”

On trade relations between the country and the region, Gaevsky said it made 123 million US dollars last year.

“There is enormous potential to increase the figure in particular in the fields of industry, energy, construction, tourism and education. I believe today`s business forum will play a key role in this regard.”

Azeri deputy economic development minister Niyazi Safarov said there was “favorable” business climate in Azerbaijan, noting it helped the country expand its relations with economic and trade partners.

The forum featured an exchange of information on Azerbaijan`s and Stavropol`s potential in a number of fields, including industry, energy, communication, transportation, food industry, agriculture and trade.


/AzerTac/