Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with Central Asian countries increased by more than 50% last year, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the eighth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan on Oct. 8 in Turkmenbashi, according to the press service of the President of Azerbaijan.
“Cooperation between Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia has significantly expanded in recent years,” Aliyev expressed. According to him, political ties are at a high level, mutual high-level visits have become regular, trade and economic cooperation is strengthening, mutual investments are growing and joint projects are being implemented.
According to the Ilham Aliyev, more than 400 companies with capital from Central Asian countries are currently operating actively in Azerbaijan. In recent years, Azerbaijan has also established joint investment funds with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, with the capital of each fund amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. Aliyev noted the need to make greater use of the opportunities provided by these funds to implement joint projects, establish new production facilities and expand industrial cooperation.
The Azerbaijani President separately highlighted the development of relations with Turkmenistan. He thanked Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov for the invitation and hospitality, and also noted the construction of a mosque in Fuzuli at the initiative of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The Azerbaijani President described the project as a gift from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan and noted it as evidence of the friendship and spiritual closeness of the two peoples.
Aliyev also highlighted the growing role of the Caspian Sea in the region’s transport cooperation. The volume of transit traffic along the Middle Corridor increased by more than 10% last year and by nearly 20% in the first eight months of this year.
