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Ambassador Radek Matula: â€œWe are happy that Azerbaijani people visit the Czech Republic willinglyâ€ - INTERVIEW

Ambassador Radek Matula: â€œWe are happy that Azerbaijani people visit the Czech Republic willinglyâ€ - <font color=red>INTERVIEW</font>

24 October 2011 10:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Habil Suleymanzadeh â€“ APA. APAâ€™s interview with Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Azerbaijan Radek Matula on the eve of the national holiday of the Czech Republic

-Revival of the economic relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic has been observed recently. How much is the trade turnover between the two countries? What are the top import and export products? How do you see the prospects of enhancement of the trade relations?

-The potential of enhancement of the business relations between our countries is high enough. The increasing trade turnover, interest of the Azerbaijani and Czech entrepreneurs to get information about each otherâ€™s market, the number of the citizens of Czech Republic and Azerbaijan wishing to pay mutual visits evidence this. Azerbaijan is developing rapidly and our country is ready to support this process with service, delivery of equipment and know how. In 2010 our trade turnover was $ 1.3 billion, increase is observed this year. Trade turnover increased by 38% within the eight months of 2011, compared to the reporting period of 2010. The top export products from the Czech Republic to Azerbaijan are cars, construction materials, products of machine building, pharmacy and chemical industry. Czech crystal and chandeliers are always available in Azerbaijani market. Moreover, I see the potential for enhancing cooperation in agriculture and processing of agricultural products, in the field of alternative and renewable energy sources. Of course, oil is the leader among the products we import from Azerbaijan.

-The Czech Republic is famous for its tourism. Azerbaijan is doing its best to improve this sphere. Are there prospects of cooperation in this field?

- Of course, there are prospects of cooperation between our countries. I would say that the prospects of cooperation in tourism have not been exhausted, there is large potential. First of all I mean the visits of the Czech tourists to Azerbaijan. This figure is less than the number of the Azerbaijanis traveling to the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic is famous among Azerbaijanis for its historical monuments, tourist and curative services, cuisine. Our experts have already prepared the draft agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism. It only remains to sign this agreement. In this case the scale of the cooperation based on individual initiative, including exchange of experience will obtain an exact framework. The relevant bodies will also join this process.

- How many visas to the Czech Republic have been issued in recent years?

- We are happy that Azerbaijani people visit the Czech Republic willingly. It means that our country has many things to show to the foreign tourists. It is good impression when the people prefer the Czech holiday resorts than others and it creates better impression when you see that the people wish to return to the Czech Republic to spend holidays there again. Regarding the number of visas, we have an opportunity to compare the figures of last and current years because the embassy of the Czech Republic was opened in 2010. If we take the tourism season in June-August into consideration, I would say that 1969 Azerbaijani citizens applied for visa in 2010, but 2455 in 2011.

- President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus visited Azerbaijan this year and a series of agreements were signed during the visit. What is implementation of these agreements, specially the agreements on protection and securing the investments?

- Currently the intergovernmental procedures necessary for bringing the agreements into force are finalizing. I believe the agreement on protection and securing the investments will promote the business relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic. This agreement was an important and concrete result of the first official visit of the Czech President to Azerbaijan in May. I would like to note that the business forum organized during the visit of Vaclav Klaus was important for the development of economic relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic. Representatives of 34 Czech companies met with their Azerbaijani colleagues and got an opportunity to learn the current state and prospects of the Azerbaijani economy. 184 Azerbaijani companies representing both public and private sectors attended the forum. More than 200 business meetings were held and some Czech companies began to work on the relevant agreements after receiving positive responses to their proposals.

- Azerbaijan is participating in the Eastern Partnership program. How is Czech Republic, as the member of the European Union, approaching the issues of visa facilitation and free trade zone?

- EU Eastern Partnership, first of all, considers visa facilitation for the participating countries. In September, the European Commission proposed to begin talks between Azerbaijan and EU. Czech Republic fully supports this process. I think it is important for deepening relations between Azerbaijan and EU in all spheres because these relations are established through the communications between the people. Czech Republic also supports the idea of free trade zone between EU and eastern partners. But one of the basic terms for establishing free trade zones is membership in the World Trade Organization.