(MENAFN- azernews)
qabil ashirov read more despite the diplomatic relations between azerbaijan and
uzbekistan being established in 1995, the history of cultural
relations between uzbeks and azerbaijanis goes back to hundreds of
years ago. based on this, the azerbaijani and uzbek governments are
determined to further deepen the economic relations. the reciprocal
visit of the heads of state, and the officials of the two countries
are the foretoken of this policy. thus, last week, the
representatives of dozens of pharmaceutical copies in uzbekistan
visited azerbaijan for probing the investment opportunity, and on
august 21, 2023, socar signed an agreement with uzbekneftegaz. on
22, 2023 the president of uzbekistan paid a visit to
azerbaijan.
azerbaijan and uzbekistan have great potential in terms of
economic relations and trade relations, told the economist natig
jafarly in a comment for azernews. however, he noted with regret
that the two countries cannot fully benefit from this
potential.
"economic relations and trade relations between azerbaijan and
uzbekistan have a great perspective, but unfortunately, these
relations are still not at the desired level. take the latest
figures for example: in the first 7 months of this year, products
worth $26.6m were exported from azerbaijan to uzbekistan, and
imports from uzbekistan to azerbaijan amounted to $65m. in other
words, we bought goods worth $65m and sold goods worth $25m. this
makes a trade turnover of about $90m. keeping the economic
prospects between uzbekistan and azerbaijan in mind, this is a very
small indicator. we should note that uzbekistan is the largest
country in central asia in terms of population. therefore, there
are opportunities for large-scale trade between the two countries,”
he said.
natig jafarly is very optimistic about the visit of the uzbek
president to azerbaijan. he said that some documents could be
signed for expanding the relationship.
“probably, after the visit of the president of uzbekistan to
azerbaijan, some works will be done on the expansion of relations
and some preliminary documents will be signed. as a result,
conditions for increasing mutual trade turnover and investments
will be improved.
obviously, about 200 azerbaijani companies operate in
uzbekistan. however, uzbek companies are very little represented in
azerbaijan. increasing mutual representation, and strengthening
economic relations is possible and, as i said earlier, its
potential is extremely large,” natig jafarly said.
the economist also touched on the logistic as well. he noted
that this could serve as a profitable logistic route between europe
and uzbekistan. he added that the economic relationship between the
two countries should not be limited to the energy sector. natig
jafarly emphasized that the diapason of economic cooperation is
very big and it expands from tourism to agriculture.
"when talking about economic relations between uzbekistan and
azerbaijan, we should not forget logistics. given that azerbaijan
will become the logistics center of the region in the future,
uzbekistan's access to europe can be via azerbaijan. there are
prospects for expanding relations such as the export of uzbek
products to europe, delivery of european products to uzbekistan,
and transit cargo transportation. therefore, this visit is very
important. i think azerbaijan and uzbekistan have great potential
not only in the energy sector but also in agriculture, tourism,
logistics, and in many other business spheres. it is possible to
use these prospects with sufficient quality," jafarly added.