The UAE and Azerbaijan agreed to enhance their cooperation across various sectors during the ninth session of the UAE-Azerbaijan Joint Intergovernmental Commission (JIC) for economic, trade, and technical cooperation. These sectors include entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), tourism, aviation, industry, technology, agriculture, food security, logistics, culture, energy, renewable energy and investment.
During the session, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, highlighted the UAE’s business environment, including recent legislative amendments allowing 100% foreign ownership, contributing to a substantial increase in registered companies. By the end of 2023, the UAE had over 788,000 registered companies, following a surge of 275,000 new registrations within a year and a half. The UAE has also revamped its visa and residency systems to attract global talent and entrepreneurs.
Both countries agreed to form joint work teams to explore further economic collaboration in priority sectors. These teams will support exporters and importers, facilitating the exchange of goods and services and promoting diversification. Given the UAE’s role as a key trade gateway for Azerbaijani exports, the meeting identified investment opportunities in food and manufacturing industries and discussed creating new communication channels between the business communities of both countries.
Discussions also focused on enhancing the growth of startups in both markets, with an emphasis on enabling exports and investing in new economy sectors to boost GDP contributions. The UAE and Azerbaijan plan to organise joint tourism exhibitions and events to promote their respective tourism sectors, leveraging the 185 monthly flights operated by UAE national carriers between the two countries.
The JIC session addressed the potential for collaboration in digitalisation, innovation, and technology, focusing on developing an innovative ecosystem and promoting cooperative efforts in artificial intelligence and innovative solutions. The UAE and Azerbaijan also explored strengthening cooperation in food security, agriculture and energy, particularly renewable energy. The session included discussing launching new projects in power generation and organising workshops on energy efficiency.
The UAE is Azerbaijan’s largest trading partner in the Arab world, accounting for 40% of its trade with the region. In 2023, non-oil trade between the two countries exceeded $1.64 billion, reflecting a 68% increase compared to 2022. Preliminary data indicates a 62% growth in non-oil trade from January to April 2024, reaching $617 million. UAE investments in Azerbaijan totalled $1.1 billion by the end of 2022, making the UAE the largest Arab and seventh largest global investor in the country. Azerbaijani investments in the UAE amounted to over $210 million as of the end of 2021.
