Azerbaijan and Turkey discussed the possibilities of future cooperation in the field of energy

On June 10, Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Mikayil Jabbarov and President of Azerbaijan State Oil Company SOCAR Rovshan Najaf met with Alparslan Bayraktar, the new Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey.

According to the information of SOCAR, it was emphasized that the strategic alliance relations between the two countries have successfully developed in the field of energy, as well as in all directions, and that the jointly implemented projects have made important contributions to the sustainable economic development of both countries and the energy security of the region and Europe.

"Current and future opportunities for cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey in the fields of economy and energy were reviewed, and opinions were exchanged on other issues of mutual interest," the information added.

1.125 million tons of Kazakh oil will be transported through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in 2023

On June 9, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov wrote on his Twitter account that by the end of this year, 1.125 million tons of Kazakh oil is planned to be transported through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) main export pipeline.

"We had useful discussions with Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan - Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Jumangarin on the development of our commercial and economic cooperation," the minister said about the meeting held in Astana.

According to the KazTransOil company, the volume of Kazakh oil transported to Baku port increased by 75 percent in April of this year. "The volume of raw materials transported from the port of Aktau to the port of Baku increased from 87 thousand tons to 152.4 thousand tons, or 75 percent compared to March 2023," the information added.

The Azerbaijani Parliament approved the agreement on the facilitation of transit customs procedures on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway

On June 8, the Azerbaijani Parliament approved the "Agreement between the Government of Azerbaijan, the Government of Georgia, and the Government of Turkey on the initial exchange of information for the facilitation of transit customs procedures within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project."

The agreement aims to facilitate the smooth and fast international transportation of goods by crossing the states' territories and reducing the time for cargo transportation.

Samad Seyidov, the Chairman of the International Relations and Inter-parliamentary Relations Committee of the Parliament, said that adopting the document will raise the geopolitical position of Azerbaijan to an entirely different level. "This project is only the first step between the three countries. Shortly, we will witness the joining of Central Asian countries to this project," he noted.

Tahir Mirkishili, Chairman of the Economic Policy, industry, and entrepreneurship committee of the Azerbaijani Parliament, said that as a result of the adoption of the document, the time spent on cargo control will be reduced, procedures will be simplified by using primary electronic data exchange systems, and special attention will be paid to goods that require fast transportation. "It is planned to establish a tripartite cooperation commission to regulate all issues. The depositary of the agreement is Turkey. The agreement is concluded for an indefinite period, which means that all documents will be kept in Turkey," he added.

The opening ceremony of the Alat Free Economic Zone was held

On the same day, the opening of the first stage of the Alat Free Economic Zone took place. President Ilham Aliyev participated in the opening ceremony.

Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Board of the authorized body of the Alat Free Economic Zone, said that the zone's total area is 850 hectares. "Construction works have been started on the 60-hectare area, which is the initial development stage of the Free Economic Zone, and several works have been carried out. So, the plots of land to be leased to investors are already ready for construction. Connection points to water, sewerage, electricity, gas, and communication networks have been provided within the land plots with a total area of 297,000 square meters," he noted.

According to him, in the next stage of development, design works are ongoing in part intended for standard production facilities and logistics centers covering an area of 138 hectares, and at the same time, in part for heavy industrial facilities covering an area of 211 hectares. It is planned to start earthworks soon on the 138-hectare site of the next development stage.

Investors in the economic zone are exempt from value-added tax, withholding tax, profit tax, and any other corporate tax. "Customs duties and taxes are not applied during import and export in the zone. Income tax is not applicable for employees whose monthly salary is up to 8 thousand manats. There are no restrictions on foreign legal entities and individuals owning property in the Alat Free Economic Zone. There is no domestic partner and shareholder requirement for foreign investors. There are no restrictions on currency transactions or repatriation of profits. Investors' property cannot be nationalized under any circumstances," the information added.