"Azerbaijani economy makes up 70% of South Caucasus economy"

Azerbaijan and Turkey have reached development in all sectors of the economy. New areas have been determined to intensify cooperation, Azerbaijani Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev said at the Azerbaijani-Turkish business forum in Baku.

Azerbaijan has great potential. We are ready to support participation of Turkish businessmen in the agricultural industry of the country - from agricultural production to transportation, refining and storage, information technology, transit, tourism, minister said.

Azerbaijan has a leading position in the region on the volume of foreign investments. The foundation was laid to attract investments to the Republic. It is the realization of large energy projects and acceptable investment climate for sustainable economic growth.

Minister said, that now Azerbaijani economy makes up 75% of the economy of the entire South Caucasus. Taking it into account, international rating agency Fitch Ratings has assigned an investment rating to Azerbaijan, despite the ongoing global financial crisis.

Mustafayev said Azerbaijan also prefers regional cooperation. Local companies are actively investing in the economy of Turkey and Georgia. An interesting point to expand cooperation is an agreement providing for transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe via Turkey.

"The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will expand this cooperation. It is important to expand cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey to gain positions in the world economy. Now it is time for this," Turkish State Foreign Trade Minister Zafar Caglayan said.

"Our strength is our unity. I hope that today's business forum will help to expand trade and economic cooperation. We intend to demonstrate the power of Azerbaijan and Turkey in all countries. Businessmen must develop joint activity in third countries together with the implementation of major investment projects," said Caglayan.

We must make every effort to increase trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey from $2.2 billion to $5 billion, he added.


/Trend/