Azerbaijan and Ukraine signed cooperation protocol on combating smuggling. According to APA-ECONOMICS, the main activity directions of the protocol are joint combating smuggling, experience exchange, information exchange and joint operation in preparation of personnel.

Expenditure for construction of Georgian part of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project is expected to reach $400 mln, said the chief engineer of Azerbaijan Railways CJCS Gurban Nazarov. According to him, $250 mln has been spent to construction of this project, so far. Nazarov noted that, first train is expected to send on BTK line for testing by the end of 2012: “60% of works were completed in Georgia and Turkey”.

Business Forum "Switzerland-Azerbaijan: the development of new opportunities for economic cooperation" will be held October 27 in Baku, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Switzerland, Murad Najafbeyli told Trend Wednesday. Switzerland will be represented at the forum with over 40 companies specialized in areas such as finances, investment, banking, trade, taxes, law, health, teaching, accounting, real estate, education etc. Seminars will be organized within the forum on the following topics: finances and private banking, trade, legal and judicial framework; industry for entrepreneurs, the economy and legal framework, health care, schools and education, Najafbeyli said.

“Britain has never had such close economic relations with Azerbaijan as it is now, and we are working with the Azerbaijani government to identify areas that can be developed”, the British Minister for European Affairs David Lidington said, APA-ECONOMICS reports quoting the British Embassy in Azerbaijan. The Minister noted that after the “Eastern Partnership” summit in Warsaw, the relations of these countries with the EU entered a new phase, and the relationships are mutually beneficial.

Azerbaijan's revenues from telecommunication services are expected to hit $ 1.5 million in 2011, Head of the State Radio Frequencies Administration under the Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry Aflatun Mammadov said at the seventh meeting of the working group on Tuesday. The meeting began in Baku today and will continue until October 14.

The cost of broadband Internet in Azerbaijan has reached 5 percent of the average wage, Azerbaijani Communications and IT Minister Ali Abbasov told journalists on Tuesday. He said these conclusions were made by the World Bank based on research conducted after the results of 2010. "This figure is two to three percent of the average wage in developed countries," he said.

Governments can play an important role in bringing innovation and technology to markets in Emerging Europe and Central Asia (ECA), says a new World Bank report 'Igniting Innovation: Rethinking the Role of Government in Emerging Europe and Central Asia ' published on Oct.10. "But badly designed or badly implemented government interventions can further hamper the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial culture among businesses and research communities," the report reads.

“I hope the energy projects will be on agenda during the Azerbaijan’s presidency in GUAM from next January”, GUAM Secretary General Valery Chechelashvili said at the GUAM Parliamentary Assembly’s meeting in Baku. Chechelashvili said 60-70 billion cubic meters of natural gas should be delivered to the European markets from various sources and touching upon the newly-discovered gas fields in Azerbaijan, added that Azerbaijan considered 54 billion cubic meters gas production in the next ten years.

A program of the Turkmen-Austrian business forum, scheduled for next week in Ashgabat, includes a number of intergovernmental bilateral meetings and negotiations, the Turkmen government said on Saturday. The agenda will include issues of development of efficient interaction, in particular in trade and economic cooperation and investment volume.

SOCAR will continue ensuring the energy security of the Eurasian area via investments in production and transportation, as well as the geographic expansion of targeted investments, SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said at the sixth KAZENERGY Eurasian forum in Astana. He added that Azerbaijan will produce more than 46 million tons of oil and more than 27 billion cubic meters of gas in 2011.