Business news

MINSK, 12 October (BelTA) – Belarus and Azerbaijan have overcome the negative trend of the falling mutual trade turnover. Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov made the statement as he met with an Azerbaijani delegation led by the speaker of the country’s parliament Oktay Asadov on 12 October, BelTA has learned.

Andrei Kobyakov said: “Azerbaijan is our reliable friend and business partner. Belarus-Azerbaijan relations have survived the test of time and have serious durability reserves for years to come. Advancing mutually beneficial and versatile relations with Azerbaijan is a priority for Belarus. The negative trend of the falling mutual trade turnover has been overcome this year. In January-August 2017 the volume of foreign trade was close to $100 million.”

The prime minister underlined that manufacturing cooperation advances well. Since 2007 about 10,000 MTZ tractors of various modifications have been assembled in Azerbaijan in addition to nearly 4,000 MAZ automobiles, trailers, and buses. In September the Belarusian tractor maker MTZ and the Ganja automobile factory signed a contract for the delivery of more than 400 tractors by the end of the year in addition to previous shipments. Systemic trade in Belarusian food has been established, including via the specialized retail chain with the Belorussky brand name. In turn, an Azerbaijani trading house was opened in Minsk in May 2017. “Such a large-scale trade platform opens up new opportunities for further increasing the export of Azerbaijani products to Belarus,” Andrei Kobyakov was convinced.

In 2018 the two countries will celebrate the 25^th anniversary since Belarus-Azerbaijan diplomatic relations were established. In this period Belarus and Azerbaijan have managed to secure considerable accomplishments in social and economic development and have gained genuine sovereignty. “We should not rest on our laurels. There are new ideas, wise proposals, which can be interesting for both sides. Joint innovative manufacturing cooperation projects, cooperation in information technologies will help bring the scientific and business circles closer in addition to offering a good foundation for bolstering the competitive ability of our economies,” said Andrei Kobyakov.

Oktay Asadov also underlined the friendly nature of Belarus-Azerbaijan relations ever since the USSR times. After the countries became independent, the relations reached new partnership standards, he said. Oktay Asadov emphasized intensive development of trade and economic cooperation.