Dagestan president to discuss crossborder trade in Baku

BAKU, June 26 (Itar-Tass) - President Mukhu Aliyev of Dagestan arrives here on Thursday for an official visit. He is to discuss matters aimed at stepping up bilateral cooperation in the general context of Azerbaijan-Russia relations.
According to diplomatic sources, Mukhu Aliyev is to meet with
President Ilkham Aliyev and Prime Minister Artur Rasi-zade on Thursday
afternoon. The sides are expected to touch upon economic interaction and crossboder trade matters mainly.
Neither is it ruled out that the sides will consider the problems of security in the region and enhancement of interaction between the law enforcement agencies of the sides in efforts to combat organised crime.
According to Dagestan's representative office in Baku, trade between the two countries ran at $186.5 million in 2007. In the process, export from Dagestan to Azerbaijan grew by 46.5 percent to run at $47 million while import increased up to $139.5 million. In the main, Makhachkala gets engineering and petrochemical products from Baku.
Dagestan is among more than 40 constituent entities of the Russian
Federation that have established direct contacts with Azerbaijan.