Dr. Lagumdzija – Mammadyarov: The Government of Azerbaijan interested in investing in infrastructure projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina



Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dr. Zlatko Lagumdzija participates in the Second Global Shared Societies Forum: “Post 2015 Agenda and Shared Societies” which is being held in Baku, on 28 and 29 April, 2014 in organization of Club de Madrid and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

The Forum attended by more than 30 former heads of state and government – members of Club de Madrid, members of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center Board, as well as representatives of international organizations, civil society and academic communities was opened today by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Dr. Lagumdzija met today with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov to discuss further development of bilateral relations and economic cooperation between the two countries, primarily in the field of infrastructure projects and possibility of entering the market of B&H by Azerbaijani capital.

Dr. Lagumdzija particularly emphasized that our country is interested in promotion of economic and trade cooperation with Azerbaijan. In that context, they discussed specific investment of the Government of Azerbaijan in infrastructure projects in B&H, first of all Corridor Vc.

On this occasion Dr. Lagumdzija expressed his gratitude to the government of Azerbaijan for being engaged in the Trans-Adriatic and Ionian-Adriatic Project (TAP/IAP) in which implementation Bosnia and Herzegovina will participate together with Greece, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia and he welcomed activities undertaken by the Azerbaijani side regarding establishment of joint venture companies in B&H with the aim to create new jobs in the field of agriculture such as the current investment project of Azerbaijani firm Benkons in Doboj where it builds fruit and vegetable processing factory. The initial investment is 30 million euro and investment companies are planning to build a complex of three interconnected factories that will, either directly or indirectly, employ around 1500 people.

The two Foreign Ministers specifically pointed to the need for acceleration of the procedure of concluding several very important bilateral agreements which have been currently in the process of adjustment, such as the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment.

During the opening of the Forum, Dr. Lagumdzija met with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The next day Dr. Lagumdzija will participate as a keynote speaker in the panel discussion: “Measuring of sustainable development and social inclusion. The challenge of disaggregated data in monitoring new sustainable development goals”.