ISLAMABAD – Azerbaijan is looking forward to furthering economic ties with Pakistan, said Ambassador Ali Alizadeh during a visit to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) yesterday.
The envoy told the business community that his country had signed free trade agreements with 10 countries of the region including Russian and investing in his country would allow Pakistani investors to explore trade with those countries too.
“Azerbaijan and Pakistan enjoy excellent relations at the political level, but trade and economic relations are not up to the mark, therefore, there is a need to focus on promoting trade relations that would yield highly beneficial results for the economies of both countries,” said Alizadeh. He added that the country was setting up a free economic zone next to the port of Baku, which would be of interest to Pakistani investors, especially pharmaceutical companies who he encouraged to set up manufacturing plants as there was a huge market for them in Azerbaijan.
“Azerbaijan is interested in developing railway links and direct flights with Pakistan soon after the end of Covid-19,” said Alizadeh, identifying agriculture, industry, tourism, mining, hospitality and defence as potential areas of bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Pakistan. He urged Pakistani businessmen to attend an online business forum in March to explore business collaboration with Azerbaijan.
ICCI President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at $16-17 million between Pakistan and Azerbaijan was quite low, given the actual potential of the two countries and efforts were needed from both sides to improve it. He said Pakistani products including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, surgical instruments, sports goods, cutlery, electrical appliances, textile and leather products, furniture, home-made crafts, food and fruits products, engineering and consumer goods, and rice have a scope in Azerbaijan.
He added, “Pakistan is setting up many special economic zones (SEZs) under CPEC that offer 10 years’ tax holiday, which can be of significant interest for Azerbaijan investors.”
