Trade Agreement between the European Union and Azerbaijan can play a significant role in expanding economic relations and intensifying the country’s efforts to diversify its economy and attracting more foreign investments in non-energy spheres. This was told Trend in the European Commission.
The organization said that the ongoing efforts of Azerbaijan on joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) will also contribute to achieving these goals.
“Pandemic COVID-19 negatively influenced trade between the EU and Azerbaijan. Bilateral trade in 2020 decreased by about 36 percent. Despite this, there were no special changes in the structure of trade, and Azerbaijan exports oil and gas to a greater extent. EU. We believe that it is necessary to focus on the restoration of turnover, which will be able to maintain open and transparent trade policy. It is also an important element undergoing ongoing negotiations on the conclusion of a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan. Negotiations on a new agreement started in 2017. After signing, the new document will replace the existing partnership agreement and cooperation from 1999. We believe that trade relations between the EU and Azerbaijan after a pandemic will be strengthened at the expense of the new agreement, which we hope to sign in the short or medium term. Although it is now difficult to say which products now and services will be covered by new Agreement, this document will ensure the creation of the right foundation for expanding trade in goods and services, “said the organization.
It is expected that the new agreement will contain mandatory rules, largely based on internationally recognized WTO rules in areas such as trade in goods, technical barriers to trade, trade in services, the movement of capital, competition, energy, raw materials, state enterprises, Government procurement, intellectual property rights, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs cooperation and sustainable development. noted in the European Commission.