Astrakhan Business Center to boost cooperation between Azerbaijan, Russia
Adelegation of representatives of the regional government, state executive bodies and municipalities, business associations and the regional public led by Astrakhan governor Alexander Zhilkin, visited Baku on December 19.
The delegation held a number of official meetings, including a meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, talks on bilateral cooperation with the head of Narimanov District Executive Authority, Abdin Farzaliyev, and attended the opening ceremony of the Astrakhan Business Center in Baku.
During the meeting with President Aliyev the successful development of bilateral relations in all spheres between Azerbaijan and Russia, contribution to strengthening cooperation ties with individual regions of Russia, including the Astrakhan region was noted.
Noting that the Azerbaijani business center is being built in Astrakhan, Zhilkin said that this business center will serve to create a logistics network in the region.
President Aliyev stressed the role of Astrakhan in the expansion of partnership between Azerbaijan and Russia, in particular trade, economic and regional cooperation.
Astrakhan plans to launch recreational vessels in the Caspian basin, which will contribute to the development of tourism among the Caspian basin countries. The issues of expansion of transport and logistics links between the Astrakhan region and Azerbaijan, joint measures for entry of Russian agriculture products to the Russian market were also discussed at the meeting.
On the same day the delegation attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Astrakhan Business Center. Azerbaijani President’s Assistant for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov, other officials, businessmen and representatives of public joined the event.
Addressing the event, Hasanov said that there is ancient trade, economic and humanitarian relations between Azerbaijan and Astrakhan Region.
"The Center will give a new momentum to the development of cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan," he noted.
Zhilkin, for his part, said that this Business Center will serve to the strengthening of trade and economic relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as between the two countries’ regions.
Emphasizing that the Azerbaijan Business Center is being built in Astrakhan, the governor added that this will contribute to the creation of a logistic network in the province and further expansion of ties between businessmen.
The total area of the Astrakhan Business Center will be more than 5,000 square meters, which will include a trade and exhibition hall, a conference room, a gym room, office rooms and a mini-hotel in this multifunctional building that will have five floors.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the Astrakhan region amounted to $14.2 million (an increase of 4.1 times a year) in January to September 2017, of which $11.2 million accounted for the supply of Azerbaijani products to this region, according to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.