Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan and Austria need to increase the share of the non-oil sector in bilateral trade, President of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) Rufat Mammadov said on May 17.

He made the remarks at the Azerbaijani-Austrian business forum in Baku.

Mammadov noted that the trade turnover between the countries increased by 17 percent in 2017 as compared to 2016.

He further noted the interest of the countries in the development of economic relations in various directions.

“As for investment cooperation, Austrian companies invested $73 million in Azerbaijan’s economy, while Azerbaijan invested $60 million in the economy of Austria," the AZPROMO president said.

He also mentioned that about 70 companies with Austrian capital are operating in Azerbaijan today.

Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Austria were established in February 1992. The highest level of trade turnover between the two countries was registered in 2015, when it amounted to 525 million euros. The turnover mainly comprises oil products as well as agricultural, machine-building, and petrochemical products.

The State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan says that in January-April 2018, the trade turnover between the countries amounted to $192.7 million. More than $170 million of this amount accounted for the export of Azerbaijani products to Austria. It is noteworthy that Azerbaijan’s exports to Austria grew by almost 25 percent in a year.

Konstantin Bekos, the Regional Manager at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber for Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, who also participated in the business forum, said that Austria is interested in developing cooperation with Azerbaijan in the field of high technologies.

“It is no coincidence that a number of relevant companies are represented at the business forum. Digitalization is a global trend, and new technologies are the key to the future,” he said.

Bekos further noted that Austria is ready to share its experience with Azerbaijan in the field of high technologies, as well as in the field of appropriate education and consulting services.

He also said that the priority sphere in this area today is transport, and therefore, Austria is ready to support Azerbaijan in the implementation of the East-West transport project.

The field of high technologies is considered to be one of the crucial spheres for the further development of Azerbaijani economy and an integral part of the economic and political reforms which are currently implemented in the country. This sector has intensively developed in Azerbaijan over the past years. Creation and development of the e-government system, expansion of the broadband internet services, launching of the telecommunication and low-orbit satellites, and many other steps are the evidence of Azerbaijan’s success in this sphere.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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