Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

The opening ceremony of Russian Export Center (REC) office in Baku, an additional powerful mean assisting growth of trade turnover between the two countries, was held on December 25. It is REC`s fifth office worldwide after Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Vietnam.

Addressing the event, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said that opening of the REC office in Baku will foster development of trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan.

The minister stressed that the relations between Azerbaijan and Russia dynamically develop in all spheres - political, economic and humanitarian ones.

“As for the economic sphere, I should note that the trade turnover and the volume of mutual investment between our countries are steadily growing,” he said. “We constantly apply new tools, and the opening of the REC office in Azerbaijan is one of such tools. Besides, it is necessary to note the opening of the trade representation of Azerbaijan in Russia and the fact that this is the first Azerbaijani trade representation in a foreign country. This once again shows the partnership level between our countries.”

In turn, Russian Minister for Economic Development Maksim Oreshkin noted that trade between Azerbaijan and Russia is growing successfully, and therefore, all the tools that will foster this growth are very important.

“The REC office in Azerbaijan will also help us create joint production chains and value chains, and both Azerbaijan and Russia will benefit from this,” said Oreshkin.

Speaking at the event, head of the REC Group Peter Fradkov stressed that the portfolio volume of the REC on the support of Russian companies in Azerbaijan amounted to almost $500 million, adding that the opening of a representative office in Azerbaijan is very important for the REC.

He went on to say that the funds of the REC were allocated for projects in various spheres of the economy, including railway engineering and transport projects, support of investments in Azerbaijan.

“At the same time, we understand that there is much greater potential for cooperation, therefore, the opening of this office shows that we will continue supporting not only large companies, but also small and medium-sized enterprises,” he added.

REC is a state institution supporting non-resource exports, providing Russian exporters with a wide range of financial and non-financial support measures.

The mission of the REC is to support and develop non-resource exports through participation in public policy and the creation of a single effective development institution.

Azerbaijan is one of the main economic partners of Russia among the CIS countries. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to almost $2 billion in 2016. Interregional cooperation plays an important role in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations and the increase in trade turnover.

Azerbaijan’s first trade representative was appointed to Russia.

Trade representative’s main mission is to take measures to expand Azerbaijan`s economic and trade relations with Russia, protect economic interests of Azerbaijan, increase export of Azerbaijani goods and services, promote Azerbaijan’s business environment and investment opportunities.

Azerbaijan seeks to open its second Trade House in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region as well.

The trade turnover with Russia amounted to $1.89 billion in January-November 2017, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.

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