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Qabil Ashirov

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Baku hosts the 8th session of the Azerbaijan-Romania Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Relations and Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which covers the topics cooperation in energy (key), transportation, investment, agriculture, social, educational, humanitarian, infrastructure, construction, and other spheres.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received the delegation led by Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Ioan Burduja. Besides, several Azerbaijani governmental bodies, including ministries, held meetings with the delegation and several documents were signed.

Also, a group made up of Romanian investors paid a visit to the Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ) and got acquainted with the conditions and terms in the AFEZ. The head of AFEZ gave detailed information and invited the investor to invest.

It is worth noting that Romania is one of Azerbaijan’s important strategic partners in Eastern Europe. It is expected that the partnership will deepen after the 2030s, when Azerbaijan's green energy project is realised.

Speaking to Azernews on the issue, economist Eyyub Karimli noted that Azerbaijan has been in strategic cooperation with Romania for a long time, and declarations on strategic partnership have been signed in this regard. Currently, the meeting of the eighth intergovernmental commission between Romania and Azerbaijan is taking place, and very important issues in terms of economic relations are being discussed here.

“Thus, in comparison with last year, positive dynamics can be observed in the economic and commercial relations between Azerbaijan and Romania. Also, an increase of 29.3 percent was observed in the trade turnover between the two countries. Today, the trade turnover between our countries has exceeded 700 million dollars, and as we know, Azerbaijan and Romania make a great contribution to ensuring the energy security of Central and Eastern Europe. They work together to implement that security,” Eyyub Karimli said.

He pointed out that, as we know, an agreement on the supply of 1 million cubic metres of natural gas to Romania from April 1, 2023, was signed, and the agreement is already being implemented. Also, work is underway on a project related to the transfer of green energy from Azerbaijan to Romania through the Black Sea through Georgia.

“As I mentioned, energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Romania is at a high level and will continue at a high pace. As we know, in the future, Azerbaijan, through its cooperation with Romania, will also export green energy to several European countries via the country, which is very important here. As for the visit of Romanian investors to the Alat Free Economic Zone, the economist emphasised that it will play an important role in the development of AFEZ and attracting investors here. Also, the interest of Romanian investors in this zone is related to the development of the transport corridor that will operate in the east-west direction in the future, the development of logistics, and the further expansion of the transport infrastructure, for which, as we know, Romanians also have a very important experience and interest in this field. They want to contribute by investing in the corridor that will extend from China to Europe in the future,” economist Eyyub Karimli concluded.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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