Georgia, Azerbaijan to Deepen Economic Relations

01.11.2016 09:30

Georgia and Azerbaijan agreed to establish a Working Group to further develop mutual trade relations and increaseexport potential from both countries. The decision was made during the official visit of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Shahin Mustafayev, to Georgia.

Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili met his Azerbaijani counterpart on Friday. At the meeting the ministers accented the benefits of bilateral transport cooperation and highlighted positive developments in tourism relations.

Georgia’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, also met the Azerbaijani delegation. The two parties discussed strategic partnership between the two countries and prospects for deepening relations in various sectors of the economy.

The sides also decided to widen the current economic corridors and develop new ones to facilitate the increased throughput and volume oftraded commodities.

The officials discussed the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project, the construction of which is set for completion in the near future. It was mentioned at the meeting that the railway link will boost the volume of transported cargo and will also attract additional volumes from both Europe and Asia.

Also discussed was the upcoming forum, planned within a tripartite format of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey and scheduled for November 16, in Istanbul, Turkey.

The fifth Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia business forum will be attended by Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Dimitry Kumsishvili, Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, and President of Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board, Omer Cihad Vardan.

Joint projects, as well as economic cooperation between the countries, will be discussed there.

Azerbaijan hasinvested almost USD 1.7 billion in Georgia’s economy since 2006, including USD 283 million since early 2016.

In 2015, Azerbaijan invested USD 550 million in neighboring Georgia’s economy. This is the highest indicator of Azerbaijani investments in Georgia.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Georgia amounted to USD 244.58 million in January-September 2016, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.

Georgia, with USD 221.83 million (3.39 percent of the total volume of Azerbaijani export) ranks ninth in the list of main importers from Azerbaijan.

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