Italian investment in Azerbaijan hits $805 million
Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov said Italian investments in Azerbaijan have reached $805 million, while Azerbaijani investments in Italy currently stand at $342 million.
Speaking at the sixth meeting of the Azerbaijan–Italy Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in Baku on Tuesday, Shahbazov noted that Italy accounts for 46.7 percent of Azerbaijan’s total exports and stressed that there is significant untapped potential for expanding bilateral investment ties, News.Az reports, citing local media.
“At present, the market value of the investment portfolio of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) in Italy amounts to $2.8 billion,” Shahbazov said, adding that signing an agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments is among the key priorities aimed at further increasing these figures.
The minister also said that Azerbaijan last year retained its position as Italy’s largest supplier of crude oil and its second-largest supplier of natural gas. According to him, Azerbaijan delivered 10.34 million tons of oil through SOCAR and a total of 9.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Italy, Azerbaijan’s largest buyer of oil and gas in Europe, accounts for around 45 percent of Azerbaijan’s total oil exports and 38 percent of its gas exports, he added.
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