BAKU, March 3. /TASS/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed with Kazakh Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov economic cooperation between the two countries, including in the energy and transport sectors, the press service of Azerbaijani President reported.
"It was noted at the meeting that over the past three years the annual trade turnover between the two countries has almost tripled, and the growth of cargo transportation, including transit, along the transport corridors continues," the report said.
According to information published on Aliyev's website, the issues of supporting investment projects through a joint investment fund created by the two countries, cooperation in the implementation of oil and gas projects, as well as prospects for increasing the volume of transportation of Kazakh oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan export pipeline were also discussed.
"In addition, the issues of connecting the energy systems of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan within the framework of the agreement signed by the two countries on [the construction of] an underwater cable line and cooperation in the field of green energy were discussed," the report said.
The Kazakh Prime Minister said that Astana and Baku are actively working on the development of the Trans-Caspian multimodal transport route. According to him, cargo traffic on this route increased by 60% last year.
According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $470.443 mln by the end of 2024, up from $314.142 mln in 2023.
In March 2024, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas (KMG) signed an agreement to gradually increase oil transit through Azerbaijan to 2.2 mln tons per year.