Baku, August 10, AZERTAC

Following the one-on-one meeting, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon were joined by their delegations for a meeting in an expanded format.

The presidents made speeches at the meeting.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Mr. President, distinguished guests!

Let me sincerely welcome Emomali Sharipovich to Azerbaijan once again. I am very delighted to see you again. We have already had the opportunity today to discuss the agenda of bilateral relations in detail, and have touched upon the issues of regional cooperation. We will continue our work within delegations today.

We are very glad to see you in Azerbaijan. I am quite sure that your visit will give a new impetus to the development of friendly and fraternal relations between our countries. We have very active interaction in the international arena. Tajikistan and Azerbaijan traditionally support each other in international organizations we are members of, and this support is very important for our countries.

We will also discuss issues of economic cooperation today. Members of our delegations have already worked quite hard. Several meetings of official representatives of our countries were held in the run-up to the visit in order to prepare material for your visit and make important decisions on economic projects, including transport ones and those related to the development of industry of our countries. We have already talked about this today. Today we will discuss these issues in a wider format.

Of course, cooperation in the humanitarian sphere forms a very important part of our relations, and we rely on traditional ties between our peoples. These ties, of course, form a good basis for our present-day relationship. I think that we will have to work hard in the coming years in order to hold regular cultural events in our countries, so that our peoples are always in close contact. The agenda of our relations is quite extensive. We meet on a regular basis, discuss important issues within the framework of reciprocal visits and as part of international events. And we are glad that our friendly relations are developing successfully today. I wholeheartedly welcome you to Azerbaijan and wish you a pleasant stay in our country.

Х Х Х

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon said:

- Thank you very much, dear Ilham Heydarovich and our Azerbaijani friends. We are very pleased with our meeting today. First of all, I would like to express our gratitude for the invitation to pay an official visit to the friendly Azerbaijan, for your cordial welcome and for the hospitality.

The Republic of Tajikistan appreciates the traditional ties of friendship between our peoples, which are based on historical and cultural commonness and centuries-old traditions. It is gratifying to note that Azerbaijani-Tajik relations are developing steadily these days. We are interested in further expanding and deepening our fruitful cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. I am confident that the agreements to be reached today will fill our new multifaceted partnership with a new content and raise it to a higher and qualitative level.

Dear Ilham Heydarovich, in the years of independence Azerbaijan has achieved a great success in its social and economic development. Your positions in the international arena have been steadily strengthening. A striking example of the country's success is the appearance of your capital city which keeps changing every year. I mentioned this in our meeting. Baku today is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful and modern cities in the world. All these achievements are closely associated with your successful state policies, which enjoy the full support of society. I sincerely wish you continued success and further achievements for the benefit of the people of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is an important partner in the Caucasus region for us. I would like to note with satisfaction the positive trend towards expansion of Tajik-Azerbaijani relations. Governed by the principles laid down in the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation, we have developed a comprehensive legal framework for our relations over the years. Today it covers almost all areas of cooperation. A new package of bilateral documents will be signed today, aiming to further strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries.