Azerbaijan will open a tourism promotion and a trade office, with diplomatic status, in Israel, the country’s Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov announced Wednesday during the Joint Israel-Azerbaijan Conference, according to TPS.
The Israel-Azerbaijan Joint Committee met after the first meeting took place in 2018. The meeting was held online and dealt with the promotion of bilateral relations and trade between the two countries.
Although relations were established between the countries over 28 years ago in 1992, and are considered good and also include security cooperation, such an office has not yet been established in Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi welcomed that announcement and said that “Azerbaijan is an ally, friend, and the largest energy supplier to the State of Israel. We will continue to work to develop the important relations with Azerbaijan and expand them to new areas.”
He further noted that Azerbaijan’s recognition of Israel’s vaccination certificate will “promote trade and tourism relations between the two countries and help Israel’s economy to continue to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.”
Prior to the meeting of the joint committee, Ashkenazi and Jabbarov discussed “regional developments in the Middle East, including expanding the circle of peace countries in the framework of the Abraham Accords, and possible collaborations between the countries.”
The two also discussed potential economic collaborations.
In the framework of the Conference, it was decided to advance a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the health field, to establish an inter-ministerial working group in the field of agriculture, and an MOU for cooperation in the field of water and desalination.
In recent years, Azerbaijan has become an important tourist destination for Israelis with approximately 50,000 tourists per year, and the countries are currently in the advanced stages of preparation towards signing tourism and aviation agreements.