Azerbaijan President receives Dubai Chamber Chairman

H.E. Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan received H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on the side-lines of his visit to the Chamber’s International Office-hosted annual networking reception held in Baku recently.

During the meeting which focused on enhancing bilateral ties between the two countries, President Aliyev lauded the strong bilateral relations existing between his country and the UAE, stating that Azerbaijan and the UAE share a single vision for the future, and are keen to strengthen their mutual cooperation and benefit from the potential opportunities available in both countries.

President Aliyev stressed upon the importance of Dubai Chamber’s representative office in Azerbaijan, which he said is a right step in expanding bilateral relations and taking them to a higher level.

His Excellency also praised Dubai’s achievements on the world economic stage and expressed his country's desire to emulate the example of the UAE which he said is a developed country with a clear vision and strategy for the future.

President Aliyev said, “Time is right to expand business relations between the two countries, including growing agricultural exports from Azerbaijan including meats and meat products while Dubai and the UAE experience is very important for Azerbaijan as the Jebel Ali experience can help us turn Alat Port into a major international logistics centre.”

Highlighting cooperation in the field of tourism, His Excellency said a lot of tourists from the UAE visit Azerbaijan as he underlined the significance of expanding economic relations and exploring export and import opportunities, adding that increased tourism promotes bilateral business.

On his part, H.E. Al Ghurair lauded both the UAE and Azerbaijan leadership’s strong vision and how it was helping the business communities focus on their business growth in challenging times adding that the UAE attaches great importance to its relationship with Azerbaijan.

H.E. Al Ghurair reiterated Dubai Chamber’s commitment to facilitate the entry of its members to these markets as the Chamber’s representative office in Baku contributes to stimulate joint economic partnerships due to the support enjoyed by its partners in the public and private sectors in Azerbaijan.

“Both our countries are implementing reforms and aim to diversify their economies and have exciting projects with huge growth potential leading to joint investment opportunities in transport and logistics, agriculture and construction as they are also looking to boost trade and foreign direct investments,” said H.E. Al Ghurair while thanking the Azerbaijani President for supporting the development of tourism relations.

The meeting with the Azerbaijani President also discussed a range of issues, including business, tourism industry, opportunities for export of Azerbaijani agricultural products to the UAE, and mutual investment areas.

H.E. Al Ghurair also had extensive meetings with H.E. Shahin Mustafayev, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Kamaladdin Heydarov, Minister of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and H.E. Karam Hasanov, Chairman of the State Committee on Property Issues of Azerbaijan, and discussed various issues of bilateral business opportunities between the two countries.

The annual networking meeting held at the Fairmont Hotel in Baku was attended by H.E. Mohamad Al Qubaisi, UAE Ambassador to Azerbaijan and a large number of Azerbaijani investors and business partners who were honoured for their active role in promoting and facilitating bilateral trade between the two countries.

 In his keynote address, H.E. Al Ghurair stated, “Azerbaijan has long been a priority market for us and we see it as a major gateway to the CIS region. Non-oil trade between Dubai and Azerbaijan reached $354 million in 2015, accounting for more than half of the UAE’s trade with the country,” he said, adding that Dubai and Azerbaijan share synergies in the fields of logistics, finance, residential and commercial construction, buildings and tourism.

He added, “Dubai businesses can potentially profit from improving the logistics links between Dubai and Azerbaijan, building quality residential and commercial property. At the same time there is a clear need for finance, banking and insurance products to Azerbaijan’s growing and increasingly wealthy population while tourism is another potential area of growth given that GCC nationals can now obtain a visa on arrival in Azerbaijan.”

Dubai Chamber’s representative office in Baku is a gateway to the UAE investments in Azerbaijan market while it highlights the investment environment of the emirates to Azeri companies wanting to make a base in Dubai and to expand in the regional markets.

Azerbaijan is an economic leader in the South Caucasus region. It accounts for nearly 73% of the whole economy of this region and one of the leading economies in the CIS in terms of FDI per capita.