Baku, June 21, AZERTAC

Following their one-on-one meeting, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon have held a meeting in an expanded format.

President Ilham Aliyev said:

-Dear Mr President,

-Distinguished guests!

I would like to sincerely welcome you to Azerbaijan again!

I am very pleased that you are visiting Azerbaijan. We have already exchanged views on important issues of bilateral relations and regional problems. Today, we continue our work in an expanded format.

I am confident that this visit will be a very important step in strengthening our cooperation, and we are interested in it. There is a great potential for this. Today's exchange of views shows that we have a lot in common in our approaches to and our assessment of what is happening. Of course, today we are laying a good foundation for the dynamic development of our bilateral relations. We need to give dynamism to our relations both in the field of political dialogue and in trade and economic spheres. There is a potential, and we know what issues need to be addressed. I think that based on the results of the visit all the necessary instructions will be given to relevant government authorities to define and realize an action plan in all areas.

So, I am very happy. I would like to welcome you once again and wish you a pleasant trip.

X X X

President Igor Dodon said:

-Dear Ilham Heydarovich, thank you very much,

-Dear friends,

I am very pleased that we, the presidents of Moldova and Azerbaijan, have finally had a high-level meeting.

We just remembered that we have not met in the past 8-10 years. That's why I consider this visit very important. Today, we will give a new impetus to our bilateral relations at the highest political level. There has been a large pause in the work of the intergovernmental commission too. I have experience in leading an intergovernmental commission. I have been a co-chair of Moldova-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission for several years. We have a huge potential and I hope very much that we will soon give a new impetus to the work of the intergovernmental commission based on the results of the high-level meeting.

We hope that ministers of the two countries will also have meetings this year. Anyway, specific projects, specific steps will be reviewed in order to achieve more active bilateral collaboration. Of course, there is positive dynamics in the field of trade between our countries. Last year growth in this area was more than 30 per cent. However, nearly $5 million for the bilateral trade is a very small figure. I hope that we will be able to organize the visit of our businessmen to Baku as part of the intergovernmental commission so that they could meet with their potential partners.