British Ambassador to Azerbaijan James Sharp and Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ) Chairman Valeh Alasgarov have discussed opportunities for UK companies to take advantage of Azerbaijan's position as a Caucasus-Caspian crossroad.

Ambassador Sharp made the remarks on his official Twitter account.

"Today (21 September) we had a good meeting with Valeh Alasgarov, chairman of the Alat free economic zone. We discussed the possibility of British companies using Azerbaijan's position as a crossroads of the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea," the ambassador tweeted.

Azerbaijan and the UK are cooperating in different spheres of the economy. There are already 30 years of successful cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector, which entered a new stage of development in line with the challenges of the global energy sector.

Moreover, the UK is Azerbaijan's largest investor. The energy sector accounts for $28.8 billion out of $30.6 billion of the UK's investments in the Azerbaijani economy.

Earlier, British companies expressed their interest in rebuilding Azerbaijan's liberated territories. In this context, Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry and BP signed an Implementation Agreement to build a 240MW solar power plant in the liberated Zangilan and Jabrayil regions.

In 2021, the Azerbaijani and British governments signed a memorandum of understanding on clean energy transition. The document aims to strengthen energy cooperation between the two countries and explore opportunities for solving the climate change problem.

The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $480.3 million in the first seven months of 2021, and to $454.4 million in 2020.