GABALA, June 23./ITAR-TASS/. Trade between Russia and Azerbaijan grew by 10.5% in 2013 from the previous year to $2.6 billion, Economy and Industry Minister of Azerbaijan Shakhin Mustafayev said on Monday.

“Russia holds the third place among Azerbaijan’s trade partners and the first place in imports,” Mustafayev told the 5th Azeri-Russian forum.

There are 570 enterprises with Russian capital operating in Azerbaijan, the minister said.

Russia and Azerbaijan, which have strategic partnership relations, have created a solid contractual and legal framework that includes over 160 agreements, the minister said.

Russia’s investments in the Azeri economy have reached $1.8 billion in the last ten years while Azerbaijan’s investments in Russia have amounted to $1 billion, the minister said.

“Russia is the sole country with whose regions Azerbaijan cooperates especially actively,” the minister said.

Russian Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev said that the tradition of holding Azeri-Russian interregional forums set by the presidents of both countries “has found support and is becoming a good stimulus for the development of interregional ties.”

Bilateral cooperation involves over 500 Azerbaijani and Russian companies and 75 Russian regions have established active ties with Azerbaijan, Slyunyayev said.

The Russian minister stressed the need to elaborate a strategy of further developing bilateral trade and economic relations.