Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Manuela Traldi, the President of the Italy-Azerbaijan Trade Institute (ITAZERCOM), praised Azerbaijan as being one of Italy’s main trade partners during the presentation “Investments in Azerbaijan: business environment and opportunities,” organized by the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation АzPromo and ITAZERCOM.

The event was held as part of the "Milan Expo-2015" international exhibition, which brings together 145 countries, 54 of which were given the opportunity to host national pavilions.

Traldi noted that Azerbaijan is developing large-scale projects in various sectors of the economy also involving Italian companies.

She stressed the importance of business meetings, exhibitions, and other joint events in the development of economic relations between the two countries.

AzPromo head Rufat Mammadov, for his part, made a presentation on the investment environment and business opportunities in Azerbaijan, familiarizing attendees with the country’s economy and Azerbaijani-Italian economic and trade relations.

As a result of successful socio-economic policy, Azerbaijan has achieved sustainable economic growth, Mammadov noted. Thanks to a favorable investment and business environment, the country has become a foreign investor.

The event also featured a presentation by the Azerbaijan Investment Company, Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park, and Balakhani Industrial Park.

Milan Expo-2015 has been actively functioning since May 1.

Italy and Azerbaijan enjoy strong friendly relations. Italy recognized Azerbaijan's independence in January 1991 and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in May 1992.

Italy has been Azerbaijan's number one trade partner for the last seven years. It is the largest importer of Azerbaijani goods. Almost a quarter of Azerbaijan's exports went to the country in January-July 2013, compared to 22 percent in the same period in 2012. Currently, 66 Italian companies are operating in Azerbaijan in insurance, banking, trade, and other sectors.

As of April 2015, Italy invested about half a billion dollars in the Azerbaijani economy. Italian companies are involved in eight projects as contractors totaling $810 million.

The two countries successfully cooperate in the energy field as well. The selection of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) by the Shah Deniz consortium is the basis of the bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.

At the Azerbaijani-Italian business forum held in Baku this April, Azerbaijan’s Economy and Industry Minister, Shahin Mustafayev, said that light industry, textiles in particular, stand among the promising areas of cooperation between the two sides.

He said that Azerbaijan and Italy might also develop relations in the tourism sector, adding that the countries already have direct air communication and could arrange reciprocal tours.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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