Azernews.Az

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan will arrive in Azerbaijan to attend Azerbaijan-Turkey-Georgia business forum, which will be held in Gabala on May 25, Anadolu news agency reported.

During the visit, Caglayan will meet with Azerbaijani Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Georgian Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

Within the trilateral business forum organized for the third time, the prospects of enhancing economic cooperation will be discussed.

Previous meetings were held in Tbilisi and Kars.

According to the 2012 results, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $2.12 billion. Turkey ranked first among foreign trade partners of Azerbaijan for the volume of imports ($1.520 billion) with a weight of 15.75 per cent of Azerbaijani imports.

Mutual investments between Azerbaijan and Turkey amount to more than $10 billion. Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR is involved in a number of major investment projects in Turkey, including the construction of the TANAP pipeline, Star refinery and others. The volume of Azerbaijan's investments to Turkey in the coming years is estimated at $21 billion.

The number of companies with Azerbaijani capital in Turkey reached 1100 by the end of 2012.

To date, SOCAR's investment in Georgia's energy sector plays a very important role. Azerbaijan ranks second in terms of foreign direct investment in Georgia and its investments make up 12 per cent of all direct investments in Georgia.

Last year, 134 enterprises backed by Azerbaijani capital were registered in Georgia with their total number exceeding 500.