Azerbaijan needs joint investment projects with Turkey

Turkey is the leading investor in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Minister of Economic Development Shakhin Mustafayev said at the Azerbaijani-Turkish business forum in Ankara, Trend reports.

Over 1000 Turkish companies are operating in Azerbaijan. They have invested some $2 billion in Azerbaijan. The forum is a continuation of the business forums in Baku and Nakhchivan.

The sides are preparing for the first session of the Council or Strategic Cooperation. A declaration on founding the council was signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Turkey in September 2010.

The sides have 23 deals. This includes realization of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum projects, Azerbaijani gas supplies to Turkey and Europe, according to a contract signed by SOCAR and Botas last year.

The minister said that hundreds of Azerbaijani companies opened business in other countries.

Mustafayev said that it is time for realization of joint projects, including investment funds, joint investing.

The Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee said that trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey reached $942.165 million in 2010. Import reached $771.274 million, export - $170.894 million.

The Trade Chamber in Ankara said that Turkey made $3.8 billion of investments in Azerbaijan. Netherlands is the only country with higher level of Turkish investments.