Azerbaijan and Georgia Sign Border Crossing Protocol as Trade Rises 42%

Azerbaijan and Georgia signed a protocol on 30 October on the practical operation of a joint road border crossing point, as the commission reported that trade between the two countries rose 42 per cent in the first nine months of 2026 and is approaching $1 billion.

The documents were signed in Sighnaghi, in Georgia's Kakheti region, at the 11th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation, chaired by Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. According to the account of the meeting published by APA, trade turnover in January to September already exceeded the total for the whole of last year. The two prime ministers held a one-on-one meeting before the session, News.az reported, and, according to APA, signed the protocol of the meeting at its close.

A joint road crossing

The border document covers the "Silk Road (Aghstafa) – Abreshumis Gza (Gardabani)" joint international road border crossing point on the Azerbaijan-Georgia state border. It was signed by Shahin Baghirov, Chairman of Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee, and Mamuka Baratashvili, Georgia's Deputy Minister of Finance and Head of the Revenue Service, APA reported. The commission said the protocol should help accelerate work on the project, which it discussed as part of expanding border-crossing capacity.

Memorandums of understanding were also signed by Goshgar Tahmazli, Chairman of Azerbaijan's Food Safety Agency, and Giorgi Yakobashvili, Head of the National Food Agency of Georgia's Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, on cooperation in plant quarantine and plant protection and in veterinary services. The commission said the documents should simplify control procedures and increase mutual trade in agricultural products.

Energy, transit and investment

The commission described energy as one of the main areas of the partnership, citing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Southern Gas Corridor, and noted continuing cooperation in electricity, including Azerbaijan's support after the crisis in Georgia's energy system in July. It stressed work on a corridor to carry green energy to Europe, which CBJ reported this month has been costed at €22.1 billion, and joint efforts to raise the competitiveness and transit potential of the Middle Corridor.

On investment, the commission called Azerbaijan one of the largest investors in Georgia's economy and pointed to the opening of a new hotel in Tbilisi built by an Azerbaijani investor. Geostat's foreign direct investment release for the second quarter of 2026 puts direct investment from Azerbaijan at USD 214.4 million in 2025, up from USD 87.2 million in 2024, and at USD 21.0 million and USD 24.3 million in the first and second quarters of 2026, according to preliminary data. CBJ reported earlier that Azerbaijan was the second-largest source of FDI in Georgia in 2025.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Kobakhidze said the talks focused mainly on economic issues, as economic cooperation is the commission's main area of activity, and that relations with Azerbaijan are developing very dynamically, APA reported. The meeting also covered environmental protection and the management of the transboundary Kura River basin.

What it means for business

For hauliers and freight forwarders, the joint crossing at Aghstafa and Gardabani, signed for by the two countries' customs and revenue chiefs, is the practical part of the package. The veterinary and plant health memorandums matter for food exporters, whose shipments go through plant and veterinary controls.

The trade figure confirms a sharp rise. CBJ reported that Azerbaijan's non-oil exports to Georgia rose to $386.5 million in January to August from $216.4 million, according to figures from the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication, a rise of about 79 per cent by CBJ's calculation. With nine-month turnover close to $1 billion, Georgia is one of Azerbaijan's main trading partners, as the commission noted, and the crossing and food safety documents signed in Sighnaghi apply to the road freight and farm goods that carry part of that trade.