Azeri oil firm to invest $10 billion in Turkey's Petkim

Azerbaijan?s national oil company SOCAR is planning to invest $10 billion in Turkey?s petrochemical firm Petkim over the next seven to eight years, SOCAR said on May 12.

?SOCAR invested $2.2 billion in Petkim from 2008 to 2014. We plan to invest $10 billion in the next seven to eight years,? SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev was quoted as saying by the Azerbaijan Press-Release Agency.

Speaking at the B20 Azerbaijan Regional Consultation Forum, Abdullayev also took the opportunity to sign a protocol agreement for strategic cooperation with Turkey?s Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarc?kl?o?lu.

Meanwhile, also at the forum, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said the trade volume between Turkey and Azerbaijan had surpassed $5 billion in 2014.

?We now aim for $15 billion in trade by 2023,? Babacan said.

B-20, also known as the ?Business 20,? is an outreach platform to bring business leaders from G-20 economies together.

The Group of 20, or G-20, is composed of the 19 largest economies in the world, in addition to the EU.  
    
Turkey has invited Azerbaijan to participate in the G-20 meeting to be held later this year, Babacan said, adding that Turkey, as G-20 president, has the right to invite a non-member state to the 2015 summit.

?We have invited our brother country Azerbaijan to participate in the meeting,? he said.

Turkey holds the G-20 presidency in 2015. The 10th annual meeting of the group will be held in Turkey?s Mediterranean city of Antalya on Nov. 15-16.