Azerbaijan's commodity turnover with EAEU countries up 31% in 2022, up 38% in Jan-April 2023 - Aliyev

BAKU. May 25 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan's commodity turnover with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has increased, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said.

"Cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EAEU countries, except for Armenia, has been successfully developing for 30 years. Last year, commodity turnover with EAEU countries increased by 31% to $4.7 billion. Some nine percent of Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover was accounted for by EAEU countries in 2022," Aliyev said at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council held in Moscow on Thursday.

The volume of mutual trade increased "by another 38%" in January-April, he said.

"We see great potential for a further increase in trade turnover," Aliyev said.

Commenting on Azerbaijan's transport capabilities, the president said the country's transport infrastructure makes it possible to transport cargos in any direction.

"Azerbaijan has the biggest trade fleet in the Caspian region - more than 50 vessels. The Alyat sea port, intended for shipping 15 million tonnes of cargo, will be modernized in the near future, and its volume of cargo shipments will reach 25 million tonnes," Aliyev said.

A shipyard is functioning in Baku that can make any type of vessel, he said. "Negotiations are now underway on placing our Caspian neighbors' orders at the Baku shipyard," the president said.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway provides access to Europe and the Mediterranean ports of Turkey, Aliyev said.

"Azerbaijan is also involved in the North-South project. We have also started creating the Zangezur Corridor, which will not only connect Azerbaijan to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, but will also become part of international railway routes. Our country has one of the largest air cargo fleets in the region, with a cargo turnover of more than 500,000 tonnes a year," the president said.

At the same time, he said one of the main tasks now facing Azerbaijan is export diversification.

"As for diversification of the economy, this issue is being successfully resolved. A large part of Azerbaijan's economy is already developing outside the resource sector. As for exports, we need to work actively on this to increase non-resource exports," the president said.