The expansion of ties with the Russian Federation’s entities is very important for Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Niyazi Safarov said.

Safarov made this statement at the Azerbaijani-Russian business meeting in Baku on May 26.

Safarov said that Azerbaijan has already been cooperating with 78 entities of Russia and intends to develop these relations.

“Azerbaijan and Russia signed more than 170 contracts, of which 45 – in the economic sphere,” he said. “The work on new agreements is underway.”

Safarov said that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia continues growing.

“The trade turnover between our countries exceeded $648 million increasing by 11 percent for the first four months of 2015,” he said.

“Russia has invested more than $ 1.8 billion in Azerbaijan’s economy,” he said. “Azerbaijan has invested over $1 billion of investments in the Russian economy.”

Konstantin Markelov, chairman of Astrakhan region government, also stressed the importance of cooperation among Azerbaijan and entities of Russia, including the Astrakhan region.

The investment opportunities of the Astrakhan region and the Lotos special economic zone were presented as part of the meeting.

The business meeting was organized by the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), supported by the Ministry of Economy and Industry of Azerbaijan. Some 40 Azerbaijani businessmen attended the meeting.