Azerbaijani entrepreneurs participated in Business and Investment Forum to be held in Tashkent

On October 5, 2019, the Business and Investment Forum of the Member States of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) was held in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

The forum, moderated by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Kuchkarov, was attended by a delegation of 55 people. The Azerbaijani delegation was headed by the President of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mammad Musayev.

The forum was attended by over 400 businessmen from various Turkic countries, engaged to construction materials, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, tourism, food industry, textile, information and communication technologies, chemical, oil and gas industries, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering etc.

During the official part of the forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Uzbekistan Jamshid Kuchkarov stressed the importance of further development of cooperation between the Turkic speaking countries.

Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States Baghdad Amreyev called Uzbekistan’s membership in this organization an important event and provided information on further work to enlarged relations between the member states.

President of the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation Mammad Musayev said that under the leadership of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, large-scale economic reforms have been implemented in Azerbaijan in recent years, and the work in development of the non-oil sector was done in significant impact on the development of the country’s economy. In the first six months of this year, Azerbaijan’s non-oil industry increased by 15.7%, trade turnover by more than 20%, non-oil exports by 15%, and agricultural production by 13%.

Musayev also informed about trade relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, and said that the trade turnover between our countries last year was $ 43.9 million. This is an increase of 46.3% compared to 2017. The trend continued this year and for the first seven months of this year, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan increased by 83% compared to the same period last year and reached $ 38.6 million.

It should be noted that currently there are about 30 companies with Uzbek capital in Azerbaijan, covering trade, industry, transport, services and other areas, and about 80 companies with Azerbaijani capital in Uzbekistan. However, there are favorable conditions for the development of trade and mutual economic relations.

We believe that the volume of trade between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan does not reflect the real potential of our countries. Both countries intend to expand cooperation in this area.

Representatives of other countries also spoke about the work to be done to further deepen ties.

Bilateral meetings of Turkic Speaking States’  businessmen were also held as part of the Business Forum.

Within the Business and Investment Forum, a meeting of the Managment Board of Business Council of Turkic Speaking States was held in Tashkent. The meeting was attended by representatives of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Reports of the Managment Board members of the Business Council of Turkic-speaking countries were heard at the meeting.

Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan Adham Ikramov, Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States Baghdad Amreyev, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey spoke about the importance of the Nakhchivan Agreement on the establishment of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States.

The President of the Turkic Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the establishment of the Turkic Council will further strengthen the integration among these countries, increase the level of cooperation in economic and other areas and emphasize the importance of developing trade relations between the Turkic Council member states.

The President of the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation Mammad Musayev invited the participants to a business forum to be held on October 14-15 in the framework of the Summit of the Turkic Council in Baku: “It is gratifying that the trade relations between the Turkic-speaking states are strengthened day by day and I think we still have a lot to do in this area. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attaches great importance to developing relations with Turkic-speaking states. Azerbaijan has invested $ 15 billion into the economy of the Turkic-speaking states and work in this direction.

Representatives of other countries also shared their views on the revival of the Turkic Council.

The Business and Investment Forum in Tashkent concluded its work on October 6.