Italian companies consider Azerbaijan as an alternative to the Russian market in terms of investments, Italian Minister of Economic Development Federica Guidi said during the Azerbaijani-Italian business forum in Baku April 15.
“Italian companies have been recently suffering huge losses on the Russian market,” she said. “That’s why, they are looking for an alternative to the Russian market. Azerbaijan is one of the most promising markets for Italian entrepreneurs. We are ready to support them [in this area]. This is one of the most important tasks for us.”
She said that Italy is interested in cooperation in banking, health care and ecology.
“The Italian government maintains relations between the companies of the two countries, because Azerbaijan has great importance for us,” she said.
She said that Azerbaijan is the largest supplier of oil to Italy. “The exports from Italy to Azerbaijan also increase,” she said.
She expressed confidence that the trade relations between the two countries will develop in the future.
According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $554.8 million (13.73 percent of a total volume of foreign trade operations of Azerbaijan) in January-February 2015. Some $485.7 million (20.8 percent of the country’s exports) accounted for the export. Among the foreign trade partners of Azerbaijan, Italy yielded to the US for the first time this year, by ranking second. But it retained the first position among importers of Azerbaijani products.
