Merkel’s visit to open new opportunities for Azerbaijan-Germany co-op: expert

By  Trend

The visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Azerbaijan and the region as a whole confirms Europe’s interest in building partnership relations with the countries of the South Caucasus, European expert on economy issues Igor Tsaranich told Trend.

“Germany is interested in strengthening the trade and economic relations with Azerbaijan as the leading and developed country of the region,” Tsaranich said.

He noted that Germany, just like most European countries, supports the implementation of large-scale energy projects being implemented by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has showed itself on international arena as a guarantor of the energy security of Europe, and this fact is very important and valuable for Germany as the leading EU country, the expert said, noting that trade and economic contacts have been established between the two countries.

He said the visit of the German chancellor to Azerbaijan will open new opportunities for further cooperation between Baku and Berlin.

Presently, over 200 companies with German share operate in Azerbaijan.

In the first half of 2018, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Germany amounted to $805.36 million, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee. The export of Azerbaijani products to Germany amounted to $421.06 million. Over the year, the trade turnover between the two countries and exports from Azerbaijan to Germany almost doubled. Germany is the fifth biggest trade partner of Azerbaijan.