Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistani Ali Alizada has said that Azerbaijan was keen to promote bilateral trade with Pakistan further as both countries have tremendous scope to enhance trade and economic cooperation in many fields. He noted that Azerbaijan and Pakistan enjoyed excellent relations at the political level, but trade and economic relations did not match them. Therefore, there was a great need to focus on promoting trade relations that would yield highly beneficial results for both countries' economies.
Addressing the business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Saturday, Ali Alizada said that the people of Azerbaijan have a great love for Pakistan and feel comfortable in doing business with it. Therefore, Pakistan should seriously consider expanding trade cooperation with Azerbaijan.
He noted that Azerbaijan had signed free trade agreements with ten countries of the region, including Russia; therefore, by investing in Azerbaijan and increasing trade cooperation, Pakistani investors could promote exports to all these regional countries.
The envoy added that the Covid-19 pandemic had caused some slowdown in trade activity between the two countries. Still, after the end of the pandemic, bilateral trade was expected to get a boost.
"Azerbaijan was interested in developing railway links and direct flights with Pakistan soon."
He identified agriculture, industry, tourism, mining, hospitality, and defense as potential bilateral cooperation areas between the two states.
Ali Alizada stressed that Pakistani pharma companies have huge potential in Azerbaijan and should set up manufacturing plants.
Speaking at the occasion, President ICCI Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the bilateral trade of around US$ 16-17 million between Pakistan and Azerbaijan was quite nominal given the actual potential of both countries, and more serious efforts were needed from both sides to improve it. According to him, many good quality Pakistani products, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, surgical instruments, sports goods, cutlery, electrical appliances, textile & leather products, furniture, home-made crafts, food and fruits products, engineering & consumer goods, rice, have a great scope in Azerbaijan. It should increase imports of these products from Pakistan.