Azerbaijan ready to help Iran launch trade centre in Baku

A senior Azeri official announced that his country is ready to cooperate with Iran in setting up a trade center in the capital of Baku. “We are fully ready to launch Iran’s trade center in Baku in collaboration with the Iranian businessmen,” Azerbaijan's Deputy Economy Minister Niazi Safarov said, addressing a meeting with officials from Iran’s Ardebil Chamber of Commerce in Baku on Saturday. Safarov underlined that his country is interested to further expand ties with Iran, and specially bolster transactions with such neighboring provinces as Ardebil. Iran has recently enhanced efforts to boost political, economic and cultural ties and cooperation with the regional and neighboring countries, specially the Central Asian states. In October, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad traveled to Baku to attend the 12th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The Iranian and Azeri presidents met on the sidelines of the Summit, where both leaders reiterated the necessity for exploring new avenues to develop bilateral ties and cooperation.