Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) hosted two extremely important officials last week – President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain Jose Manuel Albares.
The arrival of these officials will definitely strengthen BiH’s cooperation with these two countries, but it is not out of place to look back on the relationship it has had with Azerbaijan and Spain so far – at least in the economic relationship.
After the meeting with the members of the BiH Presidency, Aliyev stated that one of the plans is the establishment of an economic commission.
“Meanwhile, when it comes to the economy, there will be new initiatives. We will go towards defined goals, and establish a joint economic commission. We talked about concrete projects and we will establish ad hoc groups that will take concrete steps and measures. The strategic partnership is extremely important and I am confident that our countries will continue to move forward as true strategic partners,” Aliyev said.
Moreover, the President of Azerbaijan emphasized that he has set a goal, which is to increase trade with BiH. As he said, he is most interested in energy.
Of course, all this would not lead to the idea if BiH had not realized a policy of cooperation with Azerbaijan. Speaking of trade, BiH exported goods to Azerbaijan in the course of 2022 with a total value of 1.422.556 BAM.
According to the report of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, pharmaceutical products, mineral fuels, food, and even cosmetic products dominate.
On the other hand, BiH imported goods from Azerbaijan worth 5.670.798 baM, but the list is much smaller. Namely, we import only three types of goods – mineral fuels, plastic products, and vehicles from the “Vehicles, except railway or tram rail” tariff, which includes various attachments and vehicle parts.
Also, four days ago, a document on strategic cooperation between BiH and Azerbaijan was signed, which, as emphasized, will greatly strengthen the relations between these two countries.
We import meat and meat products from Spain
Jose Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Spain, was a guest of the BiH Presidency and the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He emphasized that Spain is interested in strengthening its presence in terms of support in the Western Balkans as well as the countries’ European path. Also, in terms of trade relations, he pointed out that Spain and BiH have a long way to go, on which we need to increase trade exchange that can be based on good political relations.
As far as import-export activities are concerned, the situation between BiH and Spain is much better than with Azerbaijan, given that our country, like Spain, can offer a much wider range of goods.
We export goods to Spain worth 56.102.198 BAM, of which furniture, bedding, and mattresses dominate. There are also inorganic chemical products, but also nuclear reactors, spoons, forks, paper, and cardboard.
BiH imports goods worth as much as 270.120.714 BAM from this Mediterranean country.
Mineral fuels, ceramic products, meat and meat products, sugar and sugar products, as well as “fish, crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic invertebrates” are highlighted.
Minister Konakovic also said that we should use this visit by Manuel Albares as an opportunity to quickly improve the economy, where we can certainly make many corrections in the areas of trade, exports, imports, and tourism.
The visits of Aliyevand Manuel Albares did not go unnoticed and, therefore, it is now up to BiH officials to maintain what was signed, agreed and emphasized, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
