Azerbaijan and Korea on June 14 held the first round of a joint commission on economic cooperation aimed at bolstering partnerships in infrastructure, industrial plants and trade and investment.

The meeting in Seoul was led by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Azeri Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, and produced a protocol agreement on economic cooperation covering technology transfer, renewable energy, information communications technology and other areas.

Seoul discussed ways to help Korean companies participate in infrastructure projects in Azerbaijan, which is vying to be a transport-logistics hub in the Caucasus linking Europe and Asia. The two sides also exchanged views on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway route that will be launched soon as part of an East-West transport corridor, as well as the Baku International Trade Port that carrys out multimodal transport. These initiatives aim to streamline freight traffic between Europe and Asia.

Minister of Trade Industry and Energy Woo Tae-hee suggested harnessing high-value-added development models that combine Korea’s industrial expertise and Azerbaijan’s natural resources to export to third markets. 

In an interview with The Korea Herald, Azeri Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies Iltimas Mammadov said that the newly launched commission would enhance and expand bilateral relations by discussing untapped economic potentials and finding new directions of cooperation.

“Azerbaijan plays an important role in the energy security of Europe, and our oil and natural gas export has been steadily increasing,” he said. “We have in recent years made great efforts to diversify our economy by moving away from oil and natural gas sectors. We want to put oil revenues into other sectors, such as transport, information communications technology, agriculture and construction.”

Mammadov added that Azerbaijan welcomes Korean investment in the modernization of transport and energy infrastructures in and around the country through engineering, procurement and construction. The Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway Project is a major international scheme led by Azerbaijan, which welcomes Korea’s involvement, according to him.

As one of the key participants in the “South Gas Corridor” projects, Baku has undertaken various infrastructure projects linking east to west (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey) and north to south (Russia-Azerbaijan-Iran) corridors.

By being the first country to link the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean and Black Sea through transport corridors, Azerbaijan plays an important role in the energy security of Caucasus and Europe, according to the deputy minister.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)