Azerbaijan invests over $14B in Turkic-speaking states
The delegation led by Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (CCTS) Bagdad Amreyev paid an official visit to Baku on October 4.
During the visit, Amreyev held meetings with Azerbaijani officials and discussed important topics, such as further development of cooperation between the Turkic-speaking States, investments, logistics system, customs system, etc.
Firstly, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has received Baghdad Amreyev and congratulated him on his election as the secretary general of the Council.
Amreyev, in turn, stressed that he would spare no effort to further develop the Turkic Council based on the decisions taken by the heads of state.
He expressed assurance that Azerbaijan as always will support his activities. In this context, the historic significance of the establishment of the Turkic Council as an international body at the Nakhchivan Summit in 2009 was emphasized.
The sides also discussed the work of the Turkic Council on deepening cooperation with the United Nations and other international organizations.
Mammadyarov wished Amreyev every success in his new capacity and said that Azerbaijan will continue its contribution to the activities of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States in the future.
Further, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev during his meeting with Amreyev underlined that the member countries of the CCTS have invested over $12 billion in the economy of Azerbaijan.
Mustafayev emphasized that Azerbaijan has invested over $14 billion in the CCTS member states.
“In 2017, the trade turnover of Azerbaijan with the CCTS member states increased by 11.4 percent, and for the eight months of 2018 it increased by 16 percent,” Mustafayev said.
The minister stressed that Azerbaijan actively participates in the events of the Turkic-speaking states, adding that there are ample opportunities for expanding ties with the countries of the CCTS in the areas of trade, transit and transport, tourism, in the ICT sector and other spheres.
In turn, Amreyev noted that the structure is interested in developing relations among the CCTS member countries in all directions, including the economic sphere.
He recalled that the next meeting of economy ministers will be held in Kyrgyzstan, and stressed the importance of this event in the development of relations among the Turkic-speaking states, adding that issues of mutual interest for expanding cooperation among the Turkic-speaking countries will be discussed at the meeting.
As part of Amreyev's visit, a meeting with Chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee, Lieutenant-General of Customs Service Safar Mehdiyev, during which Mehdiyev noted that it is necessary to prepare a document to form a unified logistics system of the Turkic-speaking states, was held.
Mehdiyev said that as part of the organization, both bilateral relations and high-level ties of mutually beneficial cooperation were established between the fraternal countries, and a common position was demonstrated.
It was also noted at the meeting that the ties in the customs sphere, just like in all spheres, are at a high level. It was said that a vivid example of this is the exchange of information among the CCTS member states, the signing of agreements and protocols, the implementation of a test project for the early transfer of information.
Mehdiyev added that the heads of the Turkic-speaking states gave specific instructions to further strengthen cooperation in the customs field. He noted the need to prepare and implement a document on the formation of a unified logistics system in order to fulfill the obligations arising from these instructions.
Mehdiyev went on to say that the Azerbaijani customs service and a number of countries in the region implement electronic exchange of information, and noted that the use of such an exchange among all members of the organization creates conditions for simplifying trade and customs control, speeding up export-import operations.
In turn, Secretary General of the CCTS said that a unified position of the leaders on strengthening economic ties, cooperation in the field of transport and logistics was demonstrated and important steps were taken in this direction at the final summit of the CCTS.
The Turkic Council or Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States is an international organization comprising some of the Turkic countries. It was founded on October 3, 2009 in Nakhchivan. The member countries are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey.
The main purposes and tasks of the organization include strengthening mutual confidence and friendship among the parties, developing common positions on foreign policy issues, coordinating actions to combat international terrorism, separatism, extremism and cross-border crimes, promoting effective regional and bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest, as well as creating favorable conditions for trade and investment and others.