KABUL: Afghan Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Daud Shah Saba, said that Afghanistan invited Azerbaijan to invest in oil and gas sector, where Azerbaijan has great experience, and in electricity production using natural gas.
He was commenting on the negotiations earlier held between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan in Baku.
“We have invited the investors from Azerbaijan in oil and gas production, as well as the ones who are interested in Afghanistan’s natural resources,” he said.
He adding, “We are the most resource-rich country in the region.”
He said the main advantage of the work in this area in Afghanistan lies in the fact that there is a small competition in his country, but the revenue from investments is big.
Aside from that, the minister expressed dissatisfaction with the level of trade between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan, which totals a couple of hundred million dollars, and this figure mainly accounts for goods imports from Azerbaijan, while the exports from Afghanistan stand at a very low level.
“We are interested in using the routes from Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey for transiting our products,” said Daud Shah Saba. “I believe both countries have such an interest.”
The Afghan president’s special representative for the CIS countries, Mohammad Shaker Kargar, positively described the outcomes of the visit to Azerbaijan, noting that the execution of concrete tasks will start in the future.
Touching upon the cooperation in the energy sector, Kargar said Afghanistan annually consumes up to four million metric tons of oil products, adding that during his visit to Baku, negotiations were held on Azerbaijan’s organizing a work in this area in Afghanistan.
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