EUROPEAN PRAGMATISM

The visit by Czech President Milos Zeman to Azerbaijan took place amid deteriorating relations with the European Parliament because of an openly anti-Azerbaijani resolution. In light of this unfriendly step, Azerbaijan even refused to participate in the Euronest and suspended the negotiations on strategic partnership with the EU.

But it was precisely Zeman's visit that showed that Azerbaijan has no problem at the level of bilateral relations with the EU and that on the contrary, even greater deepening of mutually beneficial ties is possible.

A solid foundation for the development of bilateral business relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic will be the "Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership between the Azerbaijan Republic and the Czech Republic" that was signed. By the way, the Czech Republic is the eighth EU country, with which bilateral agreements on strategic partnership have been signed.

But before we talk about the prospects of deepening business relationships between entrepreneurs of Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic, it is advisable to look at what level business ties between the two countries are today.

The classic trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the European Union

Azerbaijani exports mainly consist of oil and gas products. But this is understandable - the country is one of the active suppliers of oil to the European continent.

Today, 30 per cent of oil supplies to the Czech Republic fall to Azerbaijani oil. Data of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan show that in the first half of 2015, Azerbaijani exports to the Czech Republic amounted to 284m dollars, i.e. it is almost two times higher than in the same period last year. The export of Azerbaijani goods to the Czech Republic accounted for 4.57 per cent of the country's total exports in the first half of 2015.

Indicators of imports from the Czech Republic to Azerbaijan are much more modest. In the first six months of 2015, imports amounted to only 23,839,000 dollars, which is 6.8 per cent higher than in the same period last year. The importation of Czech products into Azerbaijan accounted for 0.51 per cent of the country's total imports in the first half of 2015.

 It must be noted that at the current stage, the Czech Republic is represented in the field of laying railway lines, supply of carriages and locomotives, as well as projects in the energy sector. Czech business took part in the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway corridor.

The president of the Czech Republic said at a joint business forum in Baku that one of the plans in the transport sector will be the implementation of a project on urban transport in the city of Ganca, including the supply of low voltage fast trams.

Azerbaijan points to the potential of the North-South project

The president of Azerbaijan, along with the proposal to continue the active participation of Czech businessmen in the BTK railway project, offered another area for cooperation with access to the market of Persian Gulf countries.

"Currently we are in the process of completing the East-West railway corridor. Simultaneously, with the support of the banks of the Czech Republic, we are in the final stage of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. This project will connect Asia to Europe via Azerbaijan and other countries and open a new corridor for traffic. This will happen simultaneously with the construction of the new International Sea Port in Baku and related facilities on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. Thus, we will create highly reliable, cost-effective transport routes. Yesterday, I also informed our guest about the North-South corridor, where Azerbaijan takes an active part. The North-South corridor will enable the transportation of an additional million tonnes of cargo through Azerbaijan and neighbouring countries. And, it seems to me, it is beneficial to all participants in Asia, in our region and in Europe. I call on Czech financial institutions to think seriously about investing in the project and about financial support," President Aliyev said.

That is to say the traditional sector of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic should continue to deepen. Azerbaijan is especially interested in it as it wants to "make the most" of the country's geographical location, attracting large investments in the modernization of transport infrastructure.

One of the most important areas of cooperation should be the agricultural sector. It must be remembered that during the Czech president's visit to Azerbaijan, a memorandum of understanding was signed on cooperation in the field of agriculture.

As part of cooperation between Azerbaijani and Czech businessmen, there is a proposal to create joint ventures in the agricultural sector, which will make it possible to increase agricultural production and sell it in the region, including in Russia.

It should be emphasized that the Czech business community is pleased with the favourable investment climate in Azerbaijan and protection of foreign investment.

In this regard, Czech entrepreneurs will try not to miss the opportunities created for the opening of businesses and investments in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan's economy.

The Czech Republic offers Azerbaijan to increase supplies of Czech products

It is easy to note that the Czech Republic has a clear deficit in foreign trade with Azerbaijan. In this regard, the Czech president expressed a desire to increase the exports of famous Czech products to Azerbaijan.

In particular, we are talking about the automobile industry. Czech entrepreneurs want to see more Skoda cars, Tatra trucks and other products of the Czech automotive industry on Azerbaijani roads.

In addition, the Czech side is not averse to intensifying cooperation with the government of Azerbaijan in the field of defence industry, as well as on the issue of acquiring radar and other weapons for the police forces of Azerbaijan.

Of course, President Milos Zeman expressed a desire to see Azerbaijani investments in the tourism business and urged Azerbaijani businessmen to invest actively in hotels and resorts in the Czech Republic.

In general, in the course of meetings between the presidents of Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic and business circles, the importance of developing bilateral relations was underlined. Azerbaijan is an important, stable supplier of oil for EU countries today. By the end of the current decade, Azerbaijan will become one of the important countries in the diversification of natural gas supplies to the countries of South-Eastern Europe. Incidentally, the further expansion of natural gas production in Azerbaijan does not rule out the possibility of "blue fuel" supplies to the Czech Republic in the future.

In such a difficult region, Azerbaijan remains an "island" of political and financial stability. Due to the armed conflicts in the region, Azerbaijan can become one of the important alternative transport routes for the transit of goods from the European Union to Asia. The completion of the construction of BTK will make it possible to intensify the transportation of goods by the Trans-Caspian international transport route China-Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey with access to the European countries.

Responsible Western politicians such as Czech President Milos Zeman understand the importance of cooperation with the government of Azerbaijan in the energy, financial and transport sector for the growth and prosperity of EU countries.