Czech Republic interested in mutual increase of tourist flow

TThe ambassador noted that it is also in the interests of the Czech Republic to expand the flow of tourists beyond the already popular destinations, such as the likes of Prague, Karlovy Vary and Baku.

"In order to attain positive results in this area, the Czech Embassy in Azerbaijan is considering providing help with summoning experts for the development of ecological tourism in Azerbaijan," Ekert said.

The ambassador stated that Czech experts are ready to visit Azerbaijan in April and discuss further cooperation with representatives of the relevant Azerbaijani structures.

Milan Ekert touched upon the topic of readiness of Czech companies to take part in the expansion of the Baku public transport system.

He noted that both ground transportation and the subway are included. Ekert also added that many of the Czech companies are ready to consider organizing joint production with Azerbaijani partners.

"There are some examples of such projects. One can mention the production of Tatra trucks at the Ganja Automobile Plant, the participation of the Moravia Steel a.s. company in the reconstruction of the Azerbaijani section of the NorthSouth railway corridor," Ekert said.

Also, the ambassador went on to say that there are projects of cooperation in the field of defense, including modernizing the fleet of Azerbaijan’s Czech-produced L-39 training aircraft.

Speaking about the AzerbaijaniCzech cooperation in 2018, the ambassador noted that, in terms of Azerbaijani-Czech bilateral relations, the past year can be called a year of the emergence of new dynamics, forming a basis for strengthening the strategic partnership between the countries.

The ambassador remarked that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic grew by 12 percent and reached 1.1 billion euros in 2018, with Azerbaijani exports to the Czech Republic growing by 15 percent and exceeding 1 billion euros. On the other hand, as noted by Ekert, the number of products exported from the Czech Republic to Azerbaijan dropped by 19 percent, making up 63 million euros.

"Thus, attracting Czech companies to enter the Azerbaijani market is one of the priorities of the Czech Embassy in Baku for the coming year," said the Czech ambassador.