An Azerbaijan-Latvia business forum was held in Baku on April 22, featuring the participation of President Ilham Aliyev and Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs. The forum served as a platform for officials and business leaders from both nations to discuss expanding trade, investment, and strategic cooperation.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, both heads of state delivered comprehensive speeches at the event. President Ilham Aliyev highlighted Azerbaijan's successful economic diversification, noting that the non-oil sector now exceeds 70 percent of the country's GDP. "We have done a lot of work to turn Azerbaijan from a state completely dependent on oil and gas into a country that can be proud of its economic diversification process," the President stated. He also emphasized the investment potential in the liberated territories of Garabagh and East Zangilan, as well as Azerbaijan's growing role as a green energy supplier and a central transport hub between East and West. Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs expressed his country's readiness to deepen ties in the defense industry, agriculture, and forestry, inviting President Ilham Aliyev to pay an official visit to Latvia in the coming year.
The business forum underscores the strengthening bilateral relations between Baku and Riga, which are supported by a Joint Economic Commission. As Azerbaijan continues to develop the Middle Corridor and reconstruct its liberated regions, Latvia remains a key partner within the European Union for technological exchange and logistics. This meeting follows a series of high-level diplomatic engagements aimed at enhancing Azerbaijan's energy security role in Europe and attracting foreign investment into the Alat Free Economic Zone and other strategic industrial sectors.
