Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 4 / Trend T. Jafarov /
The Afghan government is ready to deliver benefits and create the necessary conditions for Azerbaijani investors in various areas, including mining, oil and gas, etc., Minister of Mines and Petroleum of the Republic of Afghanistan Wahidullah Shahrani said in an interview with Trend today.
"Afghanistan and Azerbaijan have historical and cultural similarities," he added. "Today Azerbaijan is a developed country in all spheres, especially in the oil and gas sector. It should be stressed that Afghanistan and Azerbaijan have ancient and close ties, as well as the fact that Azerbaijan is a developed country. So, Afghanistan intends to use the potential of Azerbaijan."
According to him, Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Azerbaijan earlier.
"Very useful discussions were held with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during this visit," he added. "Afterwards, the President ordered for significant actions to be taken to invest in order to assist Afghan people. Currently, Azerbaijani investors are building a refinery in the north of the country. Azerbaijani company AzMeCo is building the plant together with other investors."
Shahrani stressed that earlier the meetings and negotiations were held with the Azerbaijani investors.
"Azerbaijan intends to expand this plant," he added. "The talks on joint expanding of the refinery, the construction of a power station that will operate on gas, a cement plant and a fertilizer plant were held with Azerbaijani investors during the meetings."
"The issue of Azerbaijan's rendering technical support to Afghanistan for training employees of different companies in the country was discussed at the meeting held with Azerbaijani Minister of Industry and Energy and Minister of Economic Development," he said.
"The talks on the possibility of Azerbaijani investors' making investments in the investment market of Afghanistan with 30 million population were also held at the meetings," he added. "The products to be produced in Afghanistan using Azerbaijan's investments can be imported to the neighboring countries along with providing the Afghan market with necessary goods."
