BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) of Türkiye wants to strengthen relations between Türkiye and Azerbaijan in commercial area, bringing the volume of trade to a higher level, Head of MUSIAD Mahmut Asmali told TurkicWorld.

"The Business to Business (B2B) meetings organized last year in Baku with the framework of MUSIAD, Small and medium business Development Agency of Azerbaijan and International Business Forum (IBF) contributed to creation of new partnerships between Azerbaijani and Turkish businessmen, " he said.

Asmali noted that Turkish companies are actively working on reconstruction of liberated Karabakh region and investing in the region.

"Among these companies are MUSIAD member companies. MUSIAD continues to be active in this area in Azerbaijan," he added.

Asmali stressed that the cooperation between Türkiye and Azerbaijan and the ongoing joint projects promoted to the contribution to the economy of the two countries.

He also said that the COVID-19 pandemic and tensions between Russia and Ukraine had a big impact on the global economy. At the same time, these events didn't have an impact on Turkish economy.

"After the pandemic, one of the biggest measures to support Turkish economy has been exports. Despite fears that tensions between Russia and Ukraine could disrupt this trend, this has been avoided to date," he said.

Asmali added that due to the tension between the two countries, the problems facing the European economy are obvious. However, despite this, Türkiye's exports continue to grow.

“The US has become Türkiye's second largest export market. Events in the region and the pandemic have contributed to Türkiye's increasing entry into the American market. Along with this, thanks to successful diplomacy, Türkiye is also seeing a significant increase in exports to the countries of the Middle East,” he said.

Asmali noted that MUSIAD will continue the changes started in 2022 with a larger strategic plan in 2023, which will take steps to increase exports and expand activities.

"MUSIAD's Anatolian economic diplomacy program, which its currently working on, forms the basis of this strategy," head of association informed.

He added that the ambassadors of Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Hungary and Rwanda met in Ankara with businessmen in Anatolia, and in the near future it is planned to hold meetings of the ambassadors of New Zealand and Bahrain with businessmen in various cities of Türkiye.

"Until now, MUSIAD has exchanged views with delegations from 50 countries. In addition, meetings with ambassadors and delegations from Azerbaijan, the US, China, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Japan and South Africa were held at the MUSIAD headquarters," Asmali stressed.

According to him, MUSIAD also seeks to empower women in the field of entrepreneurship.

"When MUSIAD committed to the project of the MUSIAD Women Entrepreneurs Organization, it changed the structure and created new work areas in September 2021. Within this framework, the MUSIAD Women Entrepreneurs Organization organized the International Awareness Summit for the first time," Asmali said.

He also emphasized that MUSIAD aims to strengthen the organizational structure with the launch of the Organization of Women Entrepreneurs to the international level in the near future.

"The association will continue to work and achieve success together with Turkish youth to build a strong future in Türkiye and Azerbaijan,"Asmali concluded.