Tashkent, August 23, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev delivered press statements in Tashkent on August 23.

The President of Uzbekistan made the statement first.

Statement by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev

- Dear Ilham Heydarovich,

Dear representatives of the mass media,

I am very pleased to once again sincerely welcome, in your presence, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, my dear brother, esteemed Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev, and all members of the Azerbaijani delegation to hospitable Uzbekistan.

The current state visit of the President of Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan is, without exaggeration, of historic significance. We have spoken about this several times today, because everything we sign and every agreement we reach represents a historic milestone in bilateral cooperation. Today, we signed the Treaty on Eternal Friendship. Just imagine the level to which our relations have reached between our regions, businesses, governments and parliaments. This is not simply a document; it reflects our shared commitment to deepening cooperation, expanding opportunities for interaction and building a common future.

Dear friends,

We in Uzbekistan always sincerely rejoice in every success of brotherly Azerbaijan, its sustainable economic development and growing international standing. I would particularly like to highlight the determination of President Ilham Heydarovich’s political course, thanks to which the country's territorial integrity was restored and long-awaited peace and stability were achieved. The ancient land of Garabagh is being revived. Social infrastructure is being actively developed, while jobs and enterprises are being created. Everything is being done to ensure the return of people to a peaceful and prosperous life. Azerbaijan is our reliable ally, strategic partner and brotherly state. Our relations are based on a shared civilizational code, common historical roots, centuries-old friendship, enduring spiritual values, and similar cultures and traditions. It is precisely this profound bond that makes our relations solid and resilient to external circumstances.

Dear journalists,

The current summit was preceded by extensive preparatory work. Productive meetings of the Intergovernmental Commission, the Business Council and the Regional Forum were held. We have just held the main event of the state visit — the third meeting of the Supreme Interstate Council — where we adopted very important decisions, discussed in detail the entire spectrum of our multifaceted relations, and heard reports from members of the two delegations on key areas. First and foremost, these include trade, industrial cooperation, energy, transport, culture and other areas. We agreed to strengthen political dialogue and maintain active contacts between our parliaments and governments, sectoral agencies and regions. Priority attention was given to economic issues, and we discussed the possibility of increasing trade turnover to $1 billion. But we agreed that this is not the limit and that the figure can be expanded severalfold.

We will do this. Our teams have all the necessary calculations, resources and authority. Today, we adopted a corresponding program with specific measures to achieve this important target. We also identified new growth points for industrial cooperation, primarily in sectors where our economies complement each other. A substantial portfolio of cooperation projects in energy, geology, chemicals, construction, finance, agriculture and other sectors has been developed for this visit.

The investment fund established several years ago plays an important role in advancing these projects. In a short period of time, it has become an effective mechanism for supporting our joint business initiatives. We also agreed to make maximum use of the potential of our regions. They are the driving force behind the expansion of trade and economic cooperation. To this end, the mayors of the city of Tashkent and the Bukhara and Namangan regions visited Azerbaijan this month. They are here today. I want to tell you honestly that they have been telling me about their work, and I am very pleased, Ilham Heydarovich, that they have achieved tangible results.

Another important area of cooperation is transport and transit. We will jointly develop the potential of the Trans-Caspian Corridor, improve the efficiency of logistics infrastructure and promote transportation. To this end, we will intensify efforts to establish a joint fleet in the Caspian Sea.

Close cultural and humanitarian ties serve as a reliable bridge of friendship between our peoples. Together with Ilham Heydarovich, we will inaugurate the new building of the Nizami Ganjavi Pedagogical University.

You know, I had been planning this for a very long time because the university was established in 1935, but it was located in different parts of Tashkent and no longer met modern standards. When I laid the foundation stone, I hoped that we would definitely inaugurate it together with Ilham Heydarovich, and today this historic event will become a reality. We will also launch the construction of the Azerbaijan Park in New Tashkent. I am confident that these facilities will become vivid symbols of the unbreakable brotherhood and deepening ties between our peoples.

We have a very dynamic schedule of mutual humanitarian contacts. By the end of the year, we will hold the Days of Azerbaijani Culture in Uzbekistan and the Second Forum of Rectors of Universities in Azerbaijan. A landmark creative event will be the production of a joint feature film dedicated to the literary legacy of Nizami Ganjavi and Alisher Navoi.

We will provide every possible support for public and youth contacts, creating platforms for communication, creativity and the exchange of innovative ideas.

As you know, by a decision of FIFA, next year Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan will jointly host the FIFA World Youth Championship, the second most important and prestigious football tournament in the world. As part of this major sporting event, the two countries have proposed implementing a large-scale state program entitled “Two Countries — One Championship.”

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan has already gone far beyond the bilateral agenda. The historic decision to include Azerbaijan in the format of consultative meetings of the heads of state of Central Asia was an important step towards creating a common space of trust, good-neighborliness and connectivity between Central Asia and the South Caucasus. We are consistently coordinating our diplomatic efforts and strengthening allied dialogue at key international platforms, including the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Turkic States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Independent States and other organizations.

Dear friends,

The very course of events and the depth of our discussions demonstrate the tremendous scale and unprecedented momentum that the agenda of practical Uzbek-Azerbaijani cooperation has gained.

Following today's productive negotiations, we approved a substantial package of agreements covering the most important areas of our cooperation. In this regard, I sincerely thank you, dear Ilham Heydarovich, for your firm commitment and support for all our proposals. I am confident that the results of this historic visit will give our partnership concrete substance, open up new horizons for joint projects and sustainable development of our two brotherly countries.

Thank you for your attention.

x x x

Then, the President of Azerbaijan made the statement.

Statement by President Ilham Aliyev

- Thank you, dear Shavkat Miromonovich.

Dear friends,

First of all, I would like to once again express my gratitude to you for the invitation, for the hospitality, and for such a sincere attitude toward Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people.

As you know, we have the same warm, fraternal feelings toward Uzbekistan and the brotherly people of Uzbekistan. And I think that the results of today's visit once again confirm this. First of all, however, I would like to note once again that this is not my first visit to Tashkent, and every time I come here, I notice rapid development. It is evident in everything — both in major projects and in the details. Tashkent and the whole of Uzbekistan are thriving today. And this is the result of the work of my dear brother Shavkat Miromonovich, whose efforts are aimed at strengthening Uzbekistan's potential, enhancing its position in the international arena, and addressing the most important socio-economic challenges.

When Shavkat Miromonovich took over the leadership of Uzbekistan, the situation was completely different. The citizens of Uzbekistan know this well, and so do we. Therefore, he had to make tremendous efforts to put the country on the path of development, essentially to build the economic foundations for the country's development from scratch, diversify the economy, develop industry and agriculture on a diversified basis, and attract investment into those sectors of the economy that had and continue to have great potential. And today we see a completely different Uzbekistan — Uzbekistan as a highly respected member of the international community, where issues related to industrial development, agriculture, energy and transport infrastructure are being addressed promptly and effectively. Everything that Shavkat Miromonovich spoke about with regard to our bilateral relations primarily concerns what he and his team have accomplished for Uzbekistan.

I have already spoken about this today: without this groundwork, without this potential, it would have been impossible to implement a single joint project. In fact, before Shavkat Miromonovich assumed the leadership of Uzbekistan, there was not a single joint project between our countries. Today, however, we are talking about the goal of reaching $1 billion in trade turnover not as some distant dream, but as something we will probably achieve within a couple of years. And what was discussed today — those mutual investment projects in the sectors that our economies require and need — all this would have been impossible if the two countries had not developed along parallel paths. And this parallel course is now an important factor in broader geopolitics, because, as Shavkat Miromonovich noted, following Azerbaijan's inclusion in the cooperation format of the Central Asian countries — and, incidentally, he played a special role in this matter — the geography of cooperation has expanded.

Central Asia and Azerbaijan today constitute a single geopolitical and geo-economic region, which has enormous potential today, but even greater potential for further growth. The close interaction between our countries, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, will largely determine the overall positive development dynamics of this vast region, which I would even call a newly emerging and already sufficiently integrated region.

Each of the projects we discussed today has its own value, and together they create, as Shavkat Miromonovich noted, an unprecedented level of cooperation in our relations. We have covered practically all areas, from energy, transport and investment projects to tourism, cooperation in the mining sector, the automotive industry, agriculture and processing. Even today, at the end of the official bilateral events, when we laid the foundations for new projects or inaugurated new projects, simply listing these projects is enough to see how multifaceted our cooperation is. I also forgot to mention cooperation in the banking sector, with a leading Azerbaijani bank entering the Uzbek market, SOCAR entering Uzbekistan's retail market, while in projects related to the exploration of oil and gas resources, we are already essentially at the final stage and very much hope to begin drilling production wells next year, once, I hope, the exploration drilling and exploration activities yield positive results.

So, today we are already talking about prospects. The fact is that our bilateral relations are now based on a very solid foundation — both spiritual and material. Such a synthesis is not often seen in world politics, but it exists here. And the determination of the governments of both countries to promote development, create better living conditions and pool our efforts is the most important factor in ensuring our success.

And, of course, I would once again like to highlight the special role of President Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev in attracting investments to Garabagh. Uzbekistan provided the first assistance by building the Mirzo Ulugbek School for 960 students in Fuzuli and investing in a garment manufacturing facility in Khankendi. The first major industrial enterprise was also associated with Uzbekistan. There are further plans for cooperation both in the Garabagh region and in many other regions. It is also noteworthy that today, during events related to the inauguration or groundbreaking of numerous projects — there were, I believe, ten or even more of them — there were also a number of regional projects.

The projects are not limited to Baku and Tashkent, although, of course, the main focus is on these two cities, but they also extend to other regions. The interregional cooperation forum held yesterday is of enormous practical importance. In other words, we are joining forces and creating synergy, as they like to say nowadays. We have a very clear action plan to move forward, and each project is underpinned by concrete substance. If we also add the investment fund, which is already one-third backed by projects, as well as investment projects in Azerbaijan's tourism infrastructure and automotive industry, we are already talking about billions in investment.

Investments are generally made in friendly countries, and in our case, in brotherly countries, and usually in countries where a favorable investment climate exists. And this brings me back to where I started. Shavkat Miromonovich deserves enormous credit for creating, through his reforms, persistence and wisdom, an investment climate in which international financial institutions and major international players now view Uzbekistan as a country at a successful stage of development.

As your friends and brothers, we sincerely welcome this, and I am confident that all the plans you have outlined will be implemented, and that we will work together to bring our countries and peoples even closer.

And in conclusion, I would like to invite you, Shavkat Miromonovich, to visit Azerbaijan on a state visit at a time convenient for you. Thank you for your attention.