USACC successfully completes U.S. trade mission to Azerbaijan

The Trade Mission featured a series of official events, meetings, luncheons and dinners with senior level government and industry representatives in Azerbaijan, including a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.

"USACC has helped Azerbaijan to attract American companies to develop its oil and gas fields since the early 1990s," said President Aliyev. "We are glad to see this organization getting active in the non-oil sector of the economy and help U.S. companies to discover potential of ICT sector in Azerbaijan."

U.S. Companies joining the Trade Mission were Harris Corporation, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Lockheed Martin Corporation, Symantec Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Trimble Navigation Inc., Omni Communications Inc., and Booz Allen Hamilton.

On October 2, as part of the trade mission, USACC together with AZPROMO and AMCHAM organized a U.S.-Azerbaijan Business Forum in Baku, where representatives of more than 70 local and American companies participated. During the event, the U.S. Trade Mission delegates made presentations and officials from both countries spoke about developments in the U.S.-Azerbaijani business relations and opportunities in IT and Communication sector of Azerbaijan. The forum participants also benefited from country economic and sector specific briefings by commercial experts of U.S. Commercial Service (U.S. Department of Commerce).

During the Business Forum, Azerbaijan's Minister of Communications and IT, Dr. Ali Abbasov, and U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Anne Derse, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the field of Information and Communications.

"The document signed today will allow our countries to expand bilateral cooperation in the field of ICT," remarked Minister Abbasov. Speaking in Azerbaijani, Ambassador Derse stated that the MoU will also help "increase the trade between the United States and Azerbaijan."

On October 3, President Ilham Aliyev received the U.S. Trade Mission delegation. During the meeting, the USACC co-chairmen, Mr. James Baker, IV and Mr. Reza Vaziri, informed President Aliyev about the Chamber's activities and introduced U.S. companies participating in the Trade Mission.

The mission delegates also visited the 12th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Info rmation Technologies Exhibition and Conference (BakuTel 2006) and had a city tour before completing the mission on October 4th.

Azerbaijan's ICT sector is an important segment of Azerbaijan's non-oil economy and it has been growing at an average rate of 35-40 percent per year. The Government of Azerbaijan considers the development of the ICT sector as a top priority and has committed itself to create better business conditions for foreign investors in this critical area.

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