Azerbaijan, Czech Republic discuss expanding tourism cooperation

Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic have discussed expanding cooperation in tourism.

Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov wrote about this on his Twitter account on June 1, Caliber.Az reports.

“During the meeting with Jozef Sikela, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, we discussed the prospects of strengthening trade and economic relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic. We identified wide-ranging opportunities for expanding our cooperation in the fields of investments, industry, transport-logistics and tourism,” he tweeted.

During the meeting with @JozefSikela, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, we discussed the prospects of strengthening #trade and #economic relations between 🇦🇿 and the 🇨🇿. We identified wide-ranging opportunities for expanding our cooperation in the fields… pic.twitter.com/ia6cGzrNOR

— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) June 1, 2023

The bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic revived over the past after a previous slowdown, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cooperation developed in many directions, Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Jaroslav Kurfürst said in early 2023.

"Trade and economic cooperation is among the top priorities of our bilateral relations. The trade statistics of 2022, which was significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, have shown gradual recovery and impressive year-on-year growth. According to the data of the Czech Statistical Office, the trade turnover in the period from January through November 2022 has increased by 116 per cent, which is really promising," he said.

According to the deputy minister, a gradual return of Czech companies to the Azerbaijani market has been observed from the second half of 2022, with the revival of these business activities supported by the resumption of the direct Prague-Baku air route.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic has also been talking about activities promoting economic and trade cooperation with relevant Azerbaijani institutions, Kurfürst noted.

"Several projects are in the initial stage of discussion. We believe that the upcoming 5^th Session of the Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific-Technical and Cultural Cooperation and accompanying business forum in Prague in early March will provide further momentum," he concluded.