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Azerbaijan, Lithuania pledge to expand trade relations

07 April 2009 10:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev â€“ APA-Economics. Azerbaijanâ€™s Ministry of Economic Development and Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AzPromo) are hosting a business forum in Baku, bringing together the two countriesâ€™ senior officials and businesspeople.
Azerbaijanâ€™s Deputy Minister of Economic Development Niyazi Safarov said his country has good and close cooperation with the Baltic States, including Lithuania.
He briefed the participants about Azerbaijanâ€™s economic performance and dynamic growth.
â€œGDP growth was 10.8% last year, relatively lower rate as against previous years. However, Azerbaijan maintains stable growth. $60 billion has been invested in Azerbaijan since 1995 and 70% of this was foreign investment. Domestic investment is also growing due to the development of entrepreneurship,â€ he added.
According to him, 750 000 jobs and 20 000 enterprises were created in Azerbaijan over the past five years.
In his words, unemployment rate is 1.1% and poverty is 13% now from 46%.
He underlined the existence of favorable environment for business and entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan.
He said economic relations between Azerbaijan and Lithuania are not at the desirable level.
â€œTrade turnover between the two countries was $26.3 million in 2008. I hope todayâ€™s business forum will give impetus to boosting trade turnover,â€ he noted.
Lithuaniaâ€™s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas UÅ¡ackas expressed satisfaction with Azerbaijanâ€™s economic growth and hailed the opening of Lithuanian Trade House in Baku as a move to boost economic relations between the two countries.
He said his countryâ€™s foreign trade turnover was $50 billion in 2008.
â€œI hope Azerbaijan will be among Lithuaniaâ€™s active trade partners,â€ he added.
Rahim Huseynov, President of AzPromo, and Å imeliÅ«nas Petras, Director of Lithuaniaâ€™s Export and Investment Promotion Department, held presentations on their countryâ€™s investment potential.
Businesspeople will hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the forum.