Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev outlined developments in his country's relations with the states of the region at the 8th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Azerbaijan and Central Asia, held in Turkmenistan's city of Turkmenbashi.
Aliyev said interaction between Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries had expanded significantly in recent years. Noting that political relations had reached a high level, Aliyev said high-level reciprocal visits were now being held regularly.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan's trade volume with the Central Asian countries had increased by more than 50 percent last year as mutual investments grew, joint projects were implemented and trade and economic ties strengthened. He added that more than 400 companies operating with Central Asian capital were active in Azerbaijan.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan had established joint investment funds with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, adding that each fund had capital amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Increasing investment and production capacity
Aliyev called for the joint investment funds to be used more effectively for new projects, production facilities and industrial cooperation. Saying that expanding trade volume alone would not be sufficient, Aliyev emphasized that the countries needed to pursue joint investments, produce together and access foreign markets.
Oil transportation and the green energy corridor
Aliyev described transportation as one of the main areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Central Asia and said energy also held a special place in their relations.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan played an important transit role in delivering Central Asian energy resources to international markets. He announced that Turkmen and Kazakh oil was being transported through Azerbaijan and that the volume of these shipments had increased.
Aliyev said cooperation in renewable energy had been expanding steadily and announced that joint work was under way with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to establish a green energy corridor.
