The press conference was held following the 15th meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Council in Brussels on Feb. 9.

Azerbaijan is EU’s largest trade partner in the South Caucasus with EU countries account for 46% of Azerbaijan’s trade turnover, said Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

Mammadyarov said negotiations on the agreement are underway, noting that there is a need for dialogue between the EU and Azerbaijan in the field of transport.

"I believe that both energy and transport are essential for further development,” he added.

Mammadyarov said that the 4th meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council will be held in Baku on February 15.

"I believe that this year TANAP will be opened. Azerbaijan and the EU are continuously exchanging views on regional security issues. I think that exchange of ideas in the future will be useful not only for Azerbaijan but also for Europe,” Mammadyarov added.

Besides, According to the minister, energy cooperation stands high in Azerbaijan-EU bilateral agenda.

“We continue and intensify our strategic partnership on energy through the promotion and implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) – largest infrastructure and energy project in Europe that corresponds to the shared objectives of EU and Azerbaijan to diversify energy sources and routes and establish direct energy and transport links. Promotion of the mobility and people-to-people contacts is an important dimension of EU-Azerbaijan interaction. We do believe that the successful implementation of readmission and visa facilitation agreements should pave the way for launching the dialogue on visa liberalization between EU and Azerbaijan,” Mammadyarov added.  

The EU is also the biggest investor in Azerbaijan as in last 10 years more than 20 billion dollars were invested by EU member states to the country’s economy both in oil and non-oil sectors, Mammadyarov stressed.

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