Baku, September 2, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Director-General of the International Organization for Migration William Lacy Swing.

Director-General of the International Organization for Migration William Lacy Swing said he was honored to meet the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan: "I express my admiration for the truly successful work carried out in the country under your leadership and I congratulate you on this occasion. Migration service is carried out at a very high level in Azerbaijan and, Mr. President, achieving success in this area definitely would not have been possible without your support. In my opinion, the work carried out in your country in migration area may be a very good example for migration management in general."

William Lacy Swing said a number of undertakings are discussed with the State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including the International Organization for Migration`s support of such initiatives. Touching upon Azerbaijan's accomplishments in other areas, William Lacy Swing said: "I would also like to congratulate you on the progress made in the social and economic areas. I watched with great interest the First European Games on television. I was impressed with the newly-built stadium and the buildings constructed for athletes during my visit."

President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan has already become a venue where international events, including sports tournaments are held. The head of state stressed that the preparations for the first European Games were carried out in a short space of time, adding the country has already embarked on preparations for the big sports competitions such as Formula 1 and Islamic Solidarity Games. The President noted that the organization of such events creates wonderful opportunities for better familiarizing the world with Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has a big potential for developing tourism.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that when a few years ago the State Migration Service was launched as an independent body in Azerbaijan migration issues were not as topical in the world as today. “But having forecast future development processes, we built an effective body that reflects migration management and regulation principles so that migrants feel themselves more comfortable in Azerbaijan and so that these issues are properly arranged.” Migration issues are always the center of government attention in Azerbaijan taking into consideration the development of demographic conditions in a positive direction and the huge workforce in the country, said President Ilham Aliyev.

The sides exchanged views over the prospects of cooperation between the International Organization for Migration and the State Migration Service of Azerbaijan.