Azernews.Az

By Vusala Abbasova

An Azerbaijan-Vietnam business forum was held in Baku on May 14 with the participation of Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Chiong Tan Sang of Vietnam.

Addressing the forum the two presidents stressed on the importance of the event for the development of bilateral relations.

"Our political relations are the main prerequisite for developing relations in the economic sphere," President Aliyev said.

The President recalled last year's business forum which was held in Vietnam, regarding it as an indicator of great interest to joint activities.

Azerbaijan is a country open to foreign investment, which is why the country's economy is developing rapidly. Foreign investors appraise a favorable investment environment in the country, and the amount of investments put in the country in 2014 reached $27 billion. Since its independence Azerbaijan has attracted an excess of $200 billion.

The foreign and local investments are legally protected by the state which affects the dynamics of capital inflow in the country. Approximately 70 percent of the total invested assets are internal funds that demonstrate the high growth rates of Azerbaijan economy.

The economic diversification is already a reality in Azerbaijan as 70 percent of the national GDP is formed in the non-oil sector.

The energy sector was also discussed on the background of a document signed between SOCAR and Petrovietnam on the same day.

"We want Petrovietnam to participate in the development of rich oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan," President Aliyev said. "At the same time SOCAR is entering foreign markets, seeking to expand its operations abroad."

The Vietnamese president appreciated the successful cooperation in trade noting that the figure is increasing year by year. "It reached $422 million in 2014," he added.

Chiong Tan Sang noted that he was accompanied by representatives of more than 45 companies in this two-day visit stressing that it would offer good opportunities for all to explore Azerbaijan partnering opportunities.

About 170 businessmen working in a number of fields, including the oil and gas, energy, construction, information and communications, banking and finance, industry, trade, service, tourism, transport, and pharmaceutical, attended the business forum.

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