Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 19
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
Austria and Azerbaijan have a number of priority areas for expanding the cooperation, Christoph Pfeiffer, Commercial Attaché of the Austrian embassy in Azerbaijan, told Trend.
Pfeiffer made this statement at the Azerbaijani-Austrian business forum in Baku Oct. 19.
"Although the oil and gas sector remains important for Austria in its relations with Azerbaijan, there are a number of directions for the development of economic relations and cooperation between our countries," he said.
Pfeiffer said that the purpose of today's business forum is to establish relations between the Azerbaijani and Austrian companies to exchange experience and find mutual interests.
He said that Austrian companies are interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijani businessmen and entering the local market.
"We have brought 16 companies, operating in various fields, to Azerbaijan," he said. "This way we want to contribute to the diversification of economic relations between our countries. Some 20 Austrian companies already operate in Azerbaijan.
They render various services in the architectural sector, as well as in the oil and engineering fields, by supplying various equipment to Azerbaijan," Pfeiffer said.
Referring to the priority areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Austria, Pfeiffer stressed the potential of the tourism and pharmaceutical sectors.
"Azerbaijan has recently held significant reforms in the field of pharmacy," he said. "I believe that this sector is very promising for the expansion of relations between our countries. Tourism is another promising and interesting area for Azerbaijan and Austria. I would like to stress that some Austrian companies in Azerbaijan are already rendering services in this area. Our tourism universities have a number of agreements, including on exchange of students."
According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, as of January-September 2015, the trade turnover between the countries decreased by 7.1 percent and amounted to $385.03 million for the year.
Edited by CN
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