Baku proposes German businesses enter Central Asian markets through Azerbaijan

BAKU. Oct 7 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan and Germany plan to hold the first meeting of their joint business council in November, Azerbaijan's Deputy Economy Minister Samad Bashirli said.

"We plan to visit Germany at the beginning of November this year in order to set in motion concrete initiatives that are currently at the discussion stage and call the first meeting of the Azerbaijan-Germany Business Council," Bashirli said Tuesday at a German-Azerbaijani conference in Baku on mobilizing financing for infrastructure, transport, logistics, green energy and digitalisation along the Middle Corridor.

Baku sees Germany as a key industrial partner in the development of priority sectors of Azerbaijan's economy and "welcomes open, practical discussions with German companies on specific opportunities for cooperation," Bashirli said.

The existing bilateral working group on trade and investment "provides a clear foundation and strategic direction for economic cooperation between the two countries," he said.

He also said Azerbaijan should be seen as a regional platform for investment and technological cooperation encompassing the Caspian region, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

"Our proposal to German companies is simple: locate in Azerbaijan, but create a product for the whole region. For German manufacturers this creates an opportunity to process raw material from Central Asia in Azerbaijan and ship products to customers in Turkey and Europe," Bashirli said.

Furthermore, the Trans-Caspian fiber optic cable, which will go into operation soon, will strengthen digital connectivity between Europe and Asia by creating an additional route for high-speed data transmission across the Caspian Sea, increasing the resilience of regional communication networks and strengthening Azerbaijan's role as a digital transit hub, he said.