Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Italy, a strong and reliable partner of Azerbaijan in Europe, aims to engage in new sectors of trade with the country.

Director General of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan Luigi D’Aprea, in an interview with Trend, said that opportunities for the development of trade between Italy and Azerbaijan are very extensive, and this is manifested not only in the oil and gas sector, where, by the way, Italy holds a very strong position.

Considering other sectors, Italy is represented very well in the metallurgical sector of Azerbaijan, he added.

The latest contract signed between Italy’s Danieli and Baku Steel Company, which embodies further growth and development of Italy’s activity in this sector, is a proof of this, he noted.

Regarding the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy, D’Aprea said that despite the slight decrease in the bilateral trade, Italy remains one of the main trade partners of Azerbaijan.

Last year the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy amounted to $1.89 billion, decreasing by 33.5 percent compared to 2015.

Italy, ranking first in the list of the main trade partners of Azerbaijan for eight years, dropped to the third place by late 2016. In the reporting period, Azerbaijan exported goods to Italy at $1.56 billion, accounting for 17.06 percent of the total export of Azerbaijan. Imports from Italy amounted to $332.19 million, decreasing by 43.5 percent compared to 2015.

Italy and Azerbaijan have excellent bilateral and economic relations, D’Aprea noted, adding that over the past eight years, Italy has remained Azerbaijan’s major trading partner, the fourth exporting country and the first customer in the energy sector.

“The growth of Italian export to Azerbaijan reached its peak during 2011-2015, increasing by nearly twice and only now exports from all countries, including Italy, slightly decreased, he said.

D’Aprea went on to add that the Italian products are valued a lot in Azerbaijan, and this concerns not only the luxury segment.

The quality and credibility are the two factors that make up the advantage of the "Made in Italy" brand, he said.

D’Aprea stressed that Italy is synonymous with quality not only regarding usual Italian export sectors (fashion, furniture, food products), but also in such sectors as mechanics, engineering and technology.

In addition to the annual participation in such exhibitions as Baku Build, Caspian Oil & Gas, and others, Italy tries to promote other sectors of its economy as well, including the food sector, D’Aprea said.

Baku and Rome are strategic partners in the energy sector. Italy, whose scanty natural resources traditionally make the country dependent on import has been a key partner for Baku. Since 1999, Italy has begun to receive a large part of Azerbaijani oil exported through the Baku - Supsa pipeline and then through the Baku - Jeyhan. This made Italy the number one partner for Azerbaijan and this position is maintained until today.

Currently, about 45 Italian companies are operating in Azerbaijan in insurance, banking, trade, and other areas.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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