By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Daewoo International has delivered 200 city buses to Azerbaijan in the first shipment of 1,000 buses it will provide to the Caspian Sea country, the general trading company said Tuesday.
Company officials said that the buses were delivered in a ceremony in the country’s capital of Baku, Monday, with dignitaries including Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Daewoo International President & CEO Kang Young-won attending.
Aliyev, who test-drove one of the buses in person during the ceremony, expressed his satisfaction with the vehicles, which included BS106 and BS090 models made by Daewoo Bus, according to company officials in Seoul.
Daewoo International signed a contract with the Azerbaijani government in February to provide 1,000 buses worth $60 million (roughly 54.8 billion won) to the Ministry of Transport, which is trying to reform the country’s transportation system.
Company officials expect that the bus contract will be a good start for the future expansion of business with the country, as it plans to introduce electric trains as well as taxies to better the public transportation environment in the capital.
``The deal was the result of active summit diplomacy between the two heads of state,’’ a company spokesman said. ``We expect that the bus contract will be an important catalyst to expand exchanges with Azerbaijan, which has a lot of natural resources.’’
President Roh Moo-hyun made a state visit to Azerbaijan in May 2006 to strengthen ties with the oil-rich country. South Korea established diplomatic ties with the country in March 1992 and their bilateral trade reached some $32 million in 2005.
About 40 economic cooperation projects are underway between the two countries. Daewoo International is also engaged in projects such as oil exploration in the Inam oilfield with other firms.
``Our bus contract is significant in that it helped us raise our brand image in the Caspian region,’’ Kang was quoted as saying in Baku. ``We will also make every effort to win future contracts for electric locomotives and taxies.’’