The 6th meeting of Azerbaijan-UK Intergovernmental Commission was held

The sixth session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on economic cooperation was held in Baku on 7 December.

Authorized representatives of relevant state structures of the two countries attended the meeting chaired by Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan, co-chair of the commission Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Exports), co-chair of the commission Lord Malcolm Offord.

In his speech, Minister Parviz Shahbazov noted that Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom are united by traditional relations of friendship and close cooperation, the current high level of interstate relations, mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic, trade, energy, political, social and humanitarian spheres and its enrichment with new content every day is of particular satisfaction. It was noted that mutual official visits and meetings play an important role in strengthening cooperation, and the signed bilateral documents create a favorable political and legal basis for the progressive development of our relations. "UK has been Azerbaijan's largest foreign investor for many years, and between 1995 and the first 6 months of 2023, the country invested 35 billion USD in Azerbaijan, 33 billion of which fell to the oil and gas sector. During the same period, the Azerbaijani investment in the UK amounted to 2 billion USD.

In the speech, the activities of British companies in the framework of the restoration and reconstruction work carried out in our liberated territories were noted, and it was noted that the contribution of the United Kingdom to the demining of these territories was highly appreciated. The sides talked about long-term and productive cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector and noted that this cooperation plays an important role in ensuring global energy security.

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Exports), co-chair of the commission Lord Malcolm Offord noted that trading relationship between Great Britain and Azerbaijan is worth £1.3 billion: "we are determined to increase that number by making trade faster and simpler for businesses in our two nations. The Joint Intergovernmental Commission serves as a platform to discuss how to drive trade and investment growth further and faster."

At the meeting, the work done over the period since the 5th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission was reviewed, discussions were held on cooperation between the two countries in the fields of business environment, energy transition, healthcare, infrastructure, information and communication technologies, cybersecurity, digital economy, mine action and identification of missing persons, education, agriculture, food security, environment and climate change.

At the end of the meeting, the Protocol on the conclusion of the 6th meeting of the Azerbaijan - UK Intergovernmental Commission and the Exclusive Distribution Agreement between the Bridge Group of Companies (Azerbaijan) and Concrete Canvas Limited (Great Britain) were signed.

It has been agreed that the 7th meeting of the commission will be held in London in 2024.