Israel-Azerbaijan Business Forum was held in Tel Aviv on November 15, 2021. The event organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the State of Israel and Israel Export Institute was attended by representatives of relevant agencies from both countries, heads of specialized agricultural companies.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Business Forum, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov said that the event signifies the surge of common business interests and high-level relations between between Azerbaijan and Israel. The Forum offers this space to the business sector to share their best experiences and to make the existing partnership more prosperous: “Representatives of companies specialized in the agricultural sector of the two countries will take advantage of the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings to further develop cooperation. Azerbaijan is a country, which has a rapidly developing economy in the region. Our main target is to develop national agri-food systems by diversifying the economy. The main goal is to create a sustainable agriculture that balances environmental protection, food security, trade growth and social responsibility.”

Minister Karimov recalled the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from occupation in 2020: “Our main goal for the coming years is the rehabilitation and reconstruction of liberated territories and their integration into value chains. These territories own full agricultural potential and have been announced as Green Energy Zones. The rural development of these territories will base on implementation of the Smart Cities and Smart Villages concept. Considering this, I call upon the Israeli companies to pay attention to close collaboration in transferring their best technologies and practices.”

Speaking at the Business Forum, Israel’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Oded Forer noted that the relations with Azerbaijan are at a high level and there is great potential for developing cooperation. He said that Israel cooperates with Azerbaijan in many areas, and added that there are opportunities to further expand cooperation, especially in the field of agriculture. Minister Forer said Israel is particularly interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan in the field of agricultural training, exchange of experience, transfer of modern Technologies and agrarian research: “One of the biggest roles in the development of cooperation accounts for businesses, and the cooperation of companies specialized in agriculture ultimately expands the opportunities for cooperation between two countries in the agriculture field. Azerbaijan and Israel should try to increase the mutual trade turnover. Big companies also have major responsibility in this area. I hope that the B2B meetings and exchange of views between Israeli and Azerbaijani businessmen as part of the Business Forum will have a positive impact on the further development of cooperation between the two countries.”

Presentations on agricultural potential of Azerbaijan and Israel were held at the Business Forum. The Forum continued with B2B meetings of Azerbaijani and Israeli businessmen. Representatives of Azerbaijani companies exchanged views with their Israeli counterparts on various aspects of the agricultural sector and assessed the prospects for cooperation.