UAE and Azerbaijan Strengthen Economic Partnership

UAE, 2 August, 2024 :  The UAE and Azerbaijan held the ninth session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission (JIC) for Economic, Trade, and Technical Cooperation in Shusha. The meeting, chaired by UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri and Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, included senior officials and representatives from both countries' public and private sectors.

The two nations agreed to strengthen their economic ties in various sectors, including entrepreneurship, SMEs, tourism, aviation, industry, technology, agriculture, food security, logistics, culture, energy, and investment. Bin Touq emphasized the robust strategic relations between the UAE and Azerbaijan, highlighting the exchange of high-level visits and recent agreements signed during President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to Azerbaijan.

Key discussions included opportunities in the UAE’s business environment, such as the recent amendment to the Commercial Companies Law, allowing 100% foreign ownership, leading to the registration of over 275,000 new companies in 18 months. The UAE also revamped visa and residency systems, promoting its attractiveness to global talents and entrepreneurs.

Bin Touq urged Azerbaijani businesses to leverage the UAE's flexible policies for establishing new ventures. He also highlighted the UAE’s commitment to sustainable economic growth through the ‘UAE Circular Economy Agenda 2031.’

Both parties agreed to form joint work teams to explore further collaboration opportunities, support exporters and importers, and diversify goods and services exchange. The UAE, serving as a crucial trade gateway, helps facilitate Azerbaijani exports to regional markets. The meeting also explored investment opportunities in food and manufacturing and aimed to create new communication channels between business communities.

The UAE and Azerbaijan discussed initiatives to boost startup growth, enhance investment opportunities, and enable exports to access new markets. They emphasized the importance of motivating SME owners and entrepreneurs to invest in new economy sectors.

The two countries expressed interest in organizing joint tourism exhibitions and events to highlight their key attractions and boost tourism inflows. They also discussed enhancing cooperation in digitalization, innovation, and technology, and exchanged insights on developing an innovative ecosystem.

Cooperation in food security and agriculture was another focus area, with plans to increase trade in food products and agricultural goods. The JIC session also explored energy and renewable energy sector collaborations, including new projects in power generation and workshops on energy efficiency.

The UAE is Azerbaijan's top trading partner in the Arab world, with non-oil trade between the two countries surpassing $1.64 billion in 2023, a 68% increase from 2022. Preliminary figures for January to April 2024 indicate a 62% growth in non-oil trade, reaching $617 million.

By the end of 2022, UAE investments in Azerbaijan were estimated at $1.1 billion, making the UAE the largest Arab investor and the seventh largest global investor in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani investments in the UAE totaled over $210 million as of the end of 2021.

Source : www.wam.ae