Baku, February 22, AZERTAC

Azerbaijan and Italy are preparing a new agreement on mutual investment promotion.

This was announced during the meeting of the Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev with the Undersecretary for Economic Development of the Italian Republic Andrea Cioffi, who is visiting Azerbaijan to take part at the Fifth Ministerial Meeting of Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council held in Baku.

During the meeting, Mustafayev said that the cooperation between the two countries continues successfully. The visits of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Italy, the visit of President of Italy Sergio Mattarella in Azerbaijan in July last year, the meetings and negotiations held during these visits represented great significance for expanding the ties between the two countries.

Noting the important role of Azerbaijan for the global energy security, the Minister stated that 95 Italian companies, which participate in 41 contracting projects under interstate agreements, have been registered in Azerbaijan. It was stressed that Italy is the main trade partner of Azerbaijan and ranks first in terms of its share in the Azerbaijani exports.

It was also noted that at present, the work is underway on development of a draft new agreement on the promotion and protection of investments between Azerbaijan and Italy, a joint action plan providing for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy, infrastructure, logistics, railway, agro-industrial complex, petrochemical industry and other areas.

Undersecretary for Economic Development of the Italian Republic Andrea Cioffi stressed the role of high-level visits in development of cooperation, significance of reciprocal visits of relevant delegations to intensify mutual cooperation in versatile fields, including in non-oil fields.