site.btaEconomy Ministry: Bulgaria, Azerbaijan to Seek New Opportunities to Promote Bilateral Economic Relations

Bulgaria and Azerbaijan will seek new opportunities to promote bilateral economic relations, it transpired from a meeting between Deputy Economy Minister Irina Shtonova and the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, Huseyn Huseynov, the Economy Ministry said here on Tuesday. 

The two countries have successful cooperation in areas such as energy, infrastructure, information and communication technologies. 

"Bulgaria and Azerbaijan are long-standing partners," Deputy Minister Shtonova said, pointing out that the two countries have untapped potential in areas such as infrastructure, transport, tourism, food industry and others. She said Bulgaria had a lot to contribute in green technologies, ICT and the automotive sector. 

Ambassador Huseynov said Azerbaijan is interested in increasing the cooperation sectors in trade and economic relations. The Ambassador noted Bulgaria's rapid development in the IT sector and the well-trained personnel working in the field. 

During the meeting, Deputy Minister Shtonova and Ambassador Huseynov noted the dramatic growth of bilateral trade between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan and expressed confidence that this positive trend will continue, with a further increase expected by the end of the year. In 2022, it amounts to USD 419.2 million, up by nearly 330% compared to 2021. For the first five months of this year, bilateral trade stood at USD 172.3 million, an increase of over 233.3% over the same period in 2022. 

Bulgarian exports to Azerbaijan for the same period amounted to USD 14.2 million, marking an increase of nearly 40%.

The two also discussed the opportunities for expanding transit connections and establishing a gas hub in Bulgaria. The strategic energy partnership between the two countries includes transit of Azerbaijani natural gas through Bulgaria to third countries.

Within the framework of the meeting, the two sides agreed on the need to hold a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan, as well as to organize economic and trade forums, which will help provide conditions and opportunities for deepening economic cooperation.