The 7th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was held in London.

EDnews was informed about this by the Ministry of Energy.

It was reported that before the meeting, a bilateral meeting was held between Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and the Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports of the United Kingdom, Gareth Thomas. The meeting discussed topical issues on the cooperation agenda of the two countries.

Then, the co-chairs - the Minister for Services, Small Businesses and Exports of the United Kingdom, Gareth Thomas, and the Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan, Parviz Shahbazov, made speeches at the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, which was held with the participation of delegations from both countries.

Minister Gareth Thomas said: “The agreements reached with Azerbaijan today will allow for further improvement of business relations between the two countries. Our plans aimed at accelerating economic growth form the basis of these documents, giving impetus to the expansion of exports and services in the energy, infrastructure and education sectors. Azerbaijan has been a key partner of the UK in many industrial sectors for decades, and these agreements will further strengthen existing cooperation in the coming years.”

In his speech, Minister Parviz Shahbazov emphasized that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attaches special importance to the development of relations and multifaceted cooperation with the United Kingdom, which is our country’s main trading partner. It was noted that the UK maintains its status as the largest foreign investor in Azerbaijan with investments of more than $37 billion. The active activity of more than 500 British companies in various fields in our country and the 4-fold increase in bilateral trade turnover in the first quarter of this year were assessed as indicators of the dynamic development of economic partnership between our countries.

The Minister also noted that our long-term partnership with BP, which has invested more than $35 billion in the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan, is expanding in the direction of continuing the strategic role of the Southern Gas Corridor in Europe's energy security, stabilizing and maximizing production at the ACG field, as well as implementing new projects: the active construction phase of the Shafag Solar Power Plant will soon begin. This project is a pioneering example of our cooperation with BP in the field of green energy and decarbonization of the oil and gas industry. At the same time, we are ready to expand cooperation with other British companies and investors in various areas. 

The meeting, which was attended by about 30 government agencies of Azerbaijan, reviewed the work done in more than 20 areas, important issues to be resolved, and presentations were made on development prospects. It was agreed to cooperate in the areas of renewable energy, including the development of offshore wind, solar energy and hydrogen infrastructure, network development, energy efficiency, emission reduction and transition to a liberal electricity market in the direction of energy transition.

On the modernization and diversification of the economy, cooperation opportunities with the UK in the fields of financial and professional services, technology, application of artificial intelligence, promotion of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, science and education, healthcare, culture, youth and sports were assessed and possible directions were identified.

In the direction of infrastructure development, it is envisaged to use the Middle Corridor, mutual economic investment, identify opportunities for the establishment of a bilateral Trade and Investment Platform for the textile industry, cooperation in the fields of water management and waste management, transport, aviation, digital construction and mine clearance.

Madina Mammadova\\EDnews