Iranian investments in Azerbaijan’s economy amounted to almost $1.2 billion, $145 million of which were invested in the country’s non-oil sector, the head of Azerbaijan Export and Investments Promotion Foundation, Rufat Mammadov, said.
He made the statement on Thursday at the “Investment opportunities of Azerbaijan and Iran” conference in Baku.
He said 450 Iranian companies currently operate in Azerbaijan, Trend News Agency reported.
“We believe that we can increase the volume of mutual investments,” Mammadov said. “We have all the opportunities for that. In recent years, Azerbaijan has done significant work to improve the investment climate in the country and nowadays we have concrete proposals for the Iranian investors. It is not just about investments for large companies but also for the small ones.”
Over 100 businessmen from Iran and Azerbaijan operating in the spheres of transport, energy, industry, healthcare, finance, information and communications technology and tourism took part in the two-day Baku conference that concluded on Friday.
The event was organized in partnership with the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran’s Embassy in Baku and Georgian International Academy of Science.
“Iran and Azerbaijan are creating joint plants for production of cars and pharmaceuticals,” Mammadov said. “This in turn is an indicator of high confidence of Iranian investors in Azerbaijan. The country’s businessmen also actively operate in Iran and, on the whole, are very interested in this market.”
Addressing the same conference, Vugar Zeynalov, vice president of Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs’ Confederation, announced that two Azerbaijani-Iranian business forums will be held in December in Iran.
He noted that the first business forum will be held on December 18 in Ardabil and the second on December 19 in Tabriz.
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Iran exported $232 million worth of goods to Azerbaijan over the last Iranian year (March 2015-16), down 47% compared to the previous year. Imports stood at $32.3 million, registering a 43.6% rise.
IRICA’s latest statistics show Iran exported 771,000 tons of non-oil goods worth $300.2 million to Azerbaijan during the first half of the current Iranian year, which indicates a 126% rise in value year-on-year.
Gas, chemicals, cement, chocolate, tiles, potatoes, dates and beverages were among the main exported commodities.
More than 88,000 tons of goods valued at $28.6 million, including steel ingots, wood, vehicle, millet, oilcake, cotton, road header and excavator, were imported from the neighboring country, up 167% compared with last year’s corresponding period.
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