Vietnam and Azerbaijan agreed to maintain meetings of their Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic-Commercial and Scientific-Technological Cooperation to bolster bilateral collaboration.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (L) and Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov at the meeting 

The agreement was made at the second meeting of the cooperation mechanism held in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 20. The event was attended by Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, Vietnamese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ngo Duc Manh and representatives from relevant ministries and sectors, and Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and representatives from relevant agencies.

At the meeting, both sides noted the need to enhance delegation exchanges to bolster mutual understanding and promote economic-trade development. 

Besides boosting trade, the two countries should study collaboration in the fields of energy and oil, focusing on support for the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam)’s partners in Azerbaijan, they noted.

During his stay in Azerbaijan, Minister Anh met with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Novruz Mamedov, during which the latter expressed his wish to step up ties with Vietnam.

Vietnam and Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations in 1992. Statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that two-way trade in 2017 reached 251.75 million USD, of which Vietnam exported nearly 1.3 million USD worth of products and spent 250.45 million USD purchasing Azerbaijani products. 

Vietnam’s key shipments to Azerbaijan include telephones, spare parts, and computer products. The country imports crude oil and oil products from the European country. 

Azerbaijan’s economy heavily relies on oil and gas production, oil refineries, chemicals, manufacturing, mining and the food industry. In recent years, the country has enjoyed robust economic growth despite regional and global instability. Last year, Azerbaijan’s GDP stood at 41.2 billion USD and the income per capita was 4,200 USD.-VNA