Author: Isac Gliksberg

On October 31, last Thursday, Dr. Irina Kunina of Azerbaijan was on a one-day visit in Uruguay. Dr. Irina Kunina is an employee of the International Multiculturalism Center and the head of the research and development laboratory of Azerbaijan University of Languages.

In the evening of the visit day, the Azerbaijani doctor made a speech to a large audience at a conference organized under the guidance of professor Susana Mangana in the great hall of the Catholic University of Uruguay.  

 Why do we attach so much importance to this visit and the official event? Because Azerbaijan is the only country in the Central Asia, a region that is mainly home to now-free former-Soviet Union states, which has opened an Embassy and appointed a chargé d'affaires in Uruguay. Having gained independence with the fall of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian countries are now turning to the outside world and, by doing so, declaring their doors and foreign markets open for the whole world. Unfortunately, these new markets in question have not yet been discovered by Uruguay, but they are undoubtedly very interesting and have a great potential for our products.      

As Cronicas, what we learned from the conference organized by Dr. Kunina was that Azerbaijan is a country of people residing in Central Asia, and despite the vast distances separating this territory located on the shore of the Caspian Sea and the La Plata River, along which the borders of Uruguay lie, both countries have some strangely similar common features. In particular, if we do not consider the geographical distance separating us from each-other, we can notice a strong potential for the establishment of stable and long-term trade relations for certain goods and services that will bring great benefits to Uruguay.   

We can say with certainty that the fact that both countries have mutually complementary economies will undoubtedly facilitate the trade relations between the countries despite the lack of awareness about Azerbaijan’s economic strength in Uruguay.

In the first months of the current year, Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Nin Novoa visited the capital of the Caspian Sea country for the first time ever. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister, in turn, has paid two visits to our country’s capital.

Despite the newly emerging trade relations between the two countries, particularly associated with Azerbaijan’s import of medicines from Uruguay, there is a likelihood of Uruguay selling cattle and livestock production technologies to this country, too.   

 As the readers of Cronicas already know, Uruguay is in search for a new consumer markets around the world. Thanks to its rich mineral resources and food industry, Uruguay can become the main supplier of Central Asian countries, including Azerbaijan particularly by meeting Azerbaijan’s demands in the above-mentioned areas.   

 Azerbaijan’s geographic area is half the size of Uruguay’s total area, while its population is three times as large as Uruguay’s, i.e. slightly over nine million. Like Uruguay, Azerbaijan is also a country where immigrants and different ethnic groups live in complete peace with the support of the state.

 Azerbaijan has a high Gross Domestic Product. Azerbaijan owes its power in global trade to its large-scale production of natural gas and oil, being one of the main exporters of the black gold worldwide. It also produces and exports iron ore and bauxite, as well as non-ferrous metals.

Azerbaijan is a developed country and is therefore considered a high-potential market for our export products of high technological quality.  

In conclusion, an interesting visit from a distant country situated on the shore of the Caspian Sea in Central Asia demonstrated the possibility of a potential trade cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uruguay through an official conference organized in the Catholic University of Uruguay.