Azerbaijan will host the 7th Azerbaijani-Russian interregional forum in December 2016.

This decision was made at the meeting of Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev with his Russian counterpart Alexey Ulyukaev in Moscow, said the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry in a message June 17.

During the meeting, Mustafayev said Russia has invested $3 billion in Azerbaijan’s economy until today.

He added that Azerbaijan’s investments in the Russian economy exceeded $1 billion.

Azerbaijan and Russia signed more than 170 documents, including over 50 – in the economic sector.

Currently, almost 600 companies with Russian capital operate in Azerbaijan.

The minister also noted that Azerbaijan and Russia have great potential for the development of cooperation in the areas of agriculture, machine building, pharmaceutics and others.

Mustafayev spoke about the strategic decisions made by the Azerbaijani president since the end of 2015 to develop entrepreneurship, about various projects implemented in the country, and Azerbaijan’s sustainable economic development.

Speaking about the regional ties, the minister noted the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the main threat for the development of the regional cooperation.

Minister of Economic Development of Russia Alexey Ulyukaev noted the importance of effective using of the existing opportunities for the development of bilateral relations.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to almost $739.8 million in January-May 2016, $609.6 million of which accounted for the import of Russian products, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.