Last year, Azerbaijan's trade turnover with the countries of Central Asia grew by more than 50 percent.

Axar.az reports that President Ilham Aliyev made the remarks while addressing the 8th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Central Asia in Turkmenbashi.

“Today, over 400 companies with capital originating from Central Asian countries actively operate in our country. In recent years, Azerbaijan has established joint investment funds with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The capital of each of these funds amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars,” the head of state emphasized.

The President of Azerbaijan noted the need to make more active use of the potential of these investment funds, primarily for the implementation of joint projects, the creation of new manufacturing facilities, and the expansion of industrial cooperation. “We must not only increase mutual trade; it is important to jointly invest, produce, and enter external markets,” he added.