OREANDA-NEWS. January 10, 2013. During the official visit, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis offered concrete cooperation projects to the Azerbaijani government and entrepreneurs in the field of export, investment and education. The visit opened up a unique opportunity for a delegation of more than 90 entrepreneurs to increase sales of their goods and services in Azerbaijan.

Today, during the meeting with Ziya Mammadov, Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan, V.Dombrovskis discussed future cooperation in fields of railway, see and air transport, as well as involvement of the transport sector in trade promotion. The agreement on new export market for “Liepajas Metalurgs” in Azerbaijan was also reached.

During the discussion on the EU’s cooperation with Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister expressed readiness to promote the strategic dialogue between the EU and Azerbaijan in the energy, transport, education and other sectors. He informed about forthcoming Latvia’s presidency of the EU and expressed willingness to enhance a dialogue between the EU and Azerbaijan during Latvia’s presidency. The cooperation in the development of transcontinental transport networks between Europe, Eurasia and the Far East was also discussed.

The parties discussed the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, scheduled for 2013. Before the meeting with Z.Mammadov, V.Dombrovskis paid a visit to the Sangachal Oil Terminal that is a significant object for the EU’s energy security. It is the beginning of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, providing oil supply from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to Europe. Also the powerful natural gas transport infrastructure will soon start operating.

Within the framework of the visit to Azerbaijan, V.Dombrovskis met President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister Artur Rasi-zade, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov, Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov, and other officials.

V.Dombrovskis called on the officials of Azerbaijan to strengthen cooperation in the area of export of Latvia’s goods and services and to consider Latvia as one of the target countries for investment. The Prime Minister mentioned transit, logistics, ICT, education, food industry, energy, tourism and financial sector as the most promising fields for investment.

The parties held the same opinion that there is great potential for cooperation between the two countries, and that the Latvia-Azerbaijan Business Forum is an important platform for investment and trade promotion. Within the framework of the visit, the Prime Minister opened the Business Forum that brought together entrepreneurs from both countries.

The business delegation of Latvia includes more than 80 leading enterprises of Latvia. They represent the following sectors: education, finance, IT, wood processing, transport and logistics, designing and construction, real estate, energy, metal processing, food production, design, environment, agriculture and other sectors. This is the largest delegation accompanying the Prime Minister. It is indicative of the Latvian entrepreneurs’ strong interest in business opportunities in Azerbaijan. In the Business Forum, Azerbaijan was represented by the following sectors: food production and agriculture, energy, ICT, construction, tourism, logistics, finance, health care, as well as other sectors.

With a view of promoting export of the Latvian made products to Azerbaijan, as well as recognisability and sales of the Latvian products which are already on the Azerbaijan's market, "Taste Latvia" days in Azerbaijan were opened during the Prime Minister’s visit.

As regards cooperation in the field of education, the Prime Minister pointed out that 50 students are currently studying in Latvia, and Latvia is interested in expanding the range of educational opportunities for students from Azerbaijan, particularly in the field of science and innovation.

Within the framework of the visit, the Prime Minister also participated in the reception hosted by the Embassy of Latvia in honour of Latvia's proclamation day and visited the National Petroglyph Museum at Gobustan developed under the guidance of Janis Mitrevics, founder of company “Dd Studio”.