BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 31. Originally scheduled to take place in Baku on June 3, the Azerbaijani-Albanian working group on economic, industrial, and technological cooperation was rescheduled to June 10 at the Albanian side's request, an informed source told Trend.
“In a variety of sectors, including commerce, energy, agriculture, transportation, communications, culture, and tourism, Azerbaijan and Albania are keen to deepen their economic engagement,” the source pointed out.
Prospects of gasification of Albanian cities (Korca among the first cities) with the assistance of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) are among the expected topics to be discussed.
To note, the first meeting of the Azerbaijan-Albania Economic, Industrial and Technological Cooperation Working Group was held in Tirana on May 4, 2023.
Azerbaijan was represented at this event by a delegation led by Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov.
At the end of 2023, the volume of exports of Azerbaijani products to Albania amounted to $950,910, whereas imports of Albanian products amounted to $576,880.
In the first four months of 2024, Azerbaijan exported products valued at $479,820 to Albania, while Albania exported goods worth $411,500 to Azerbaijan.
Since December 2020, Azerbaijani gas has started passing via Albania on its way to Europe, while Albania plans to receive Azerbaijani gas in 2026, and the necessary work is underway.
In early May, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree “On Approval of the Agreement on Economic Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania”. The Agreement was signed on March 1, 2024, in Baku.
Since April, the countries have also been benefiting from a visa-free regime.
