On Tuesday, April 14th, in Baku, Azerbaijan, Minister for Agriculture Armands Krauze met with Azerbaijan’s Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov and Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov to discuss trade and cooperation between the two countries. Both countries have strong potential to expand cooperation in the economy and education.
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov expressed to Minister for Agriculture Armands Krauze Azerbaijan’s interest in learning from Latvia’s experience in agricultural education, including the use of drones and other precision technologies in agriculture. Discussing economic cooperation, Armands Krauze presented to his Azerbaijani colleagues the strong potential of Latvia’s agriculture, fisheries and food industry to expand exports of food products to the Azerbaijani market. Representatives of the Azerbaijani government were particularly interested in importing Latvian fisheries and wood industry products, as well as forest seedlings.
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov emphasised to Armands Krauze that it is very important to restore direct flights by Latvia’s national airline "airBaltic" between Riga and the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. This would make a significant contribution to economic cooperation between the two countries, from business to tourism.
In Baku, the Minister for Agriculture also visited the Alley of Honour and the Martyrs’ Alley memorial complex, where he paid tribute to the people of Azerbaijan who gave their lives for the country’s freedom and independence.
From April 13th to 17th, Minister for Agriculture Armands Krauze is on an official visit to Azerbaijan, where the 9th meeting of the Latvia–Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission is taking place. During meetings with high-level Azerbaijani officials, the Latvian side is discussing issues related to expanding cooperation in the economy, including agriculture, food production, forestry, and the wood industry, as well as science, technology, and culture. The Minister for Agriculture is the head of the Latvia–Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission from the Latvian side.