Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijani Energy Ministry held a meeting to discuss the expansion of energy cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov met with the delegation led by Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), co-chair of the Saudi Arabia-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Joint Commission Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al-Omar.

During the meeting, the sides discussed issues related to the development of bilateral relations in the economic, as well as energy sector, identifying new directions of cooperation and attracting investment.

Shahbazov gave detailed information on the current level of cooperation with Saudi Arabia within OPEC +, as well as in bilateral format, current situation in oil and gas, renewable energy, planned projects and new opportunities.

The Minister pointed out the joint technical committee's activity between relevant ministries of the two countries as an important step towards the implementation of new cooperation proposals.

Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al-Omar said that Saudi Arabia is interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan and investing in energy sector along with agriculture, tourism, transport. For this, the Road Map should be compiled and interaction between companies should be ensured.

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the participation of Saudi Arabia companies in the field of petrochemical, gas processing, as well as signing a memorandum of understanding with ACWA Power on renewable energy.

Later, Mustafayev met with delegation led by Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al-Omar.

Speaking about the successful activities of Saudi-Arabian companies in Azerbaijan, later Minister Mustafayev invited the Saudi businessmen to benefit favorable business environment in Azerbaijan, invest in industrial parks and districts, agroparks.

Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman al-Omar said that Saudi Arabia businessmen are interested in active cooperation with Azerbaijani businessmen and offered to create an electronic database for business circles of both countries.

Recently, the fifth meeting of the intergovernmental commission between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia was held in Baku to discuss the issues of cooperation in such spheres as economics, trade, investment, IT, culture, sports, agriculture, food security, employment, healthcare, tourism, education, etc.

Within the meeting, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia signed a protocol on expanding cooperation in economic and trade investments.

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. Over the past years, the bilateral economic relations have strengthened and expanded with the increased interest in investment. Currently, several companies of Saudi Arabia operate in various fields in Azerbaijan.

Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries that signed an energy deal with Azerbaijan. Saudi Arabia participated in the Contract of the Century signed in 1994 in Baku and its Delta-Hess Company had a 2.72 percent share in the contract.

So far, Saudi Arabia's state-owned and private companies invested about $ 370 million in Azerbaijan's economy.

Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with Saudi Arabia amounted to 30.9 million manats in 2018, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. About 24.3 million manats accounted for the import of Saudi products in Azerbaijan.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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