Athens, June 16 (AZERTAC). President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Antonis Samaras have met with top business people in Athens.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Antonis Samaras said the relations between the two countries were developing. He noted that high-level political cooperation between Azerbaijan and Greece was impacting on the economy. “And this opens up ample opportunities for speeding up the relations between business communities.”

Antonis Samaras said Greece and Azerbaijan had successful energy cooperation. He said that TAP project would have a strong impact on the development of regional countries along with Greece.

Speech by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

- Distinguished Prime Minister,

Dear friends!

First of all, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for the hospitality extended to me and my delegation. I am very glad to be visiting this beautiful country again. This is my second official visit to Greece, which demonstrates the high level of cooperation between our countries. This cooperation is at a very high level. Over a short period of time we have managed to establish a true partnership based on friendship, mutual trust, support, understanding and mutual benefit. We appreciate the level of cooperation between our countries and strive to broaden and deepen this relationship.

At today's meeting with the Prime Minister we discussed in detail the broad economic cooperation and the prospects for energy and non-energy issues. I think there is great potential for cooperation. Our delegation includes people representing the energy and non-energy sectors of our economy.

The Azerbaijani economy is developing fast. The past 10 years have seen a more than three-fold growth. This has allowed us the opportunity to implement a number of infrastructure projects and modernize our country. Of course, we will continue the policy towards diversification, investment in infrastructure and non-energy sector of our economy in the coming years, as it is the only path to sustainable development.

Azerbaijan has ample energy reserves - enough to last us more than 100 years. But we need to think about the subsequent period. We need to ensure sustainable economic development for the coming years and reduce our economy’s dependence on the energy sector. The fact that the non-energy sector forms the bulk of the gross domestic product makes us proud. Over time, the non-oil sector will play an even more dominant role in Azerbaijan’s economy.

There are good opportunities for increasing trade and investment between our countries. Azerbaijan has started to invest abroad, and, as Prime Minister has said, one of our major investment projects in Europe is the acquisition of a stake in DESFA. We are also investing in other countries of the region. We plan to cooperate more with Greece in the field of mutual investments. I am told that a meeting of the Greece-Azerbaijan joint economic commission will be held in the near future. It will probably evaluate investment opportunities, so that we can identify new areas of cooperation. Of course, this will be done in close cooperation with the government and business people.

I think that Azerbaijan is an attractive country for foreign investment. Over the last year our country has received investment worth $28 billion, of which 30 per cent is made up of foreign investment. Foreign investment is securely protected. We have a very good investment environment. So we would like to see Greek companies as investors and contractors. We have discussed this issue, i.e. the issue of inviting Greek companies to participation in projects that will be implemented in Azerbaijan in the fields of construction, creation of a modern infrastructure, agriculture, information and communication technology, and other fields.

Of course, tourism, pharmaceuticals, banking - all these sectors must develop in Azerbaijan in the coming years. We have ambitious modernization plans. We have adopted the "Azerbaijan 2020" program. This program will allow us the opportunity to implement all major infrastructure projects in our country by 2020. So I want to take this opportunity to personally urge Greek companies to be active, work and do business in Azerbaijan.

Of course, our economic relations will be dominated by the energy sector. And this is natural, because this sector is important to Azerbaijan, Greece and Europe. This is a project which will benefit all parties. Azerbaijan needs major markets for its vast gas reserves. And Europe needs new gas sources and routes. The "Shah Deniz", TANAP and TAP projects which we have started to realize are truly diversification projects, as they provide not only a new route for gas supplies to Europe, but also, most importantly, a new source of gas. It is a source of large volumes of gas.

Azerbaijan’s proven gas reserves exceed 2.5 trillion cubic meters. This will give us the opportunity to export gas to various markets for at least 100 years. Of course, our energy strategy is underpinned by the important selection of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. I am very pleased that the TAP project has been selected. This project will further strengthen the relations between Azerbaijan, Greece, Italy and Albania. We will create a new format for broad regional cooperation of the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and Europe. It will benefit all of us.

The TAP project will generate a lot of work. Thousands of new jobs will be created. This will enable Azerbaijan to fully implement the strategic goal of establishing a new route of energy supplies to the European market. Today, the second stage in the development of the "Shah Deniz" gas field, TANAP and TAP are the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. Of course, in cooperation with our Greek partners we will do everything possible to ensure timely implementation of these projects. In order to implement these projects in a timely manner and with high efficiency, we will need to regularly, perhaps on a daily and weekly basis, do the coordination work. I am sure that we will achieve this goal, as the work is on schedule.

In addition, I want to bring to your attention the opportunities in the field of transport in Azerbaijan. At the moment we are implementing a very important railway project which, passing through Georgia and Turkey, will link Azerbaijan to Europe. It will be a new Silk Road. This route will be shorter than any of the existing transport routes. We are building a new seaport in Baku, implementing other infrastructure projects related to railway and transport. This will also play an important role in developing trade relations between Azerbaijan and Europe.

I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Prime Minister and the government of Greece for supporting the relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union. These ties are developing very well. We view Greece as our main partner and friend in the European Union. In other words, there are great opportunities for boosting economic cooperation in many areas. Underlying this are strong political ties between our countries. This is the foundation. This is a sincere relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests. The task of building up new business opportunities on this solid foundation with the support of the government of Greece rests with the business community.

As I said, our delegation represents various sectors of the economy. The same holds true for the Greek delegation. I am sure that after this meeting the delegations will work even more closely together and may reach results immediately. Once again, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you.

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Then heads and representatives of leading Greek companies provided information about their companies. It was said that the companies were specialized in energy, transportation, tourism, alternative energy sources, ICT and other areas.

The entrepreneurs said they were interested in building new partnerships with Azerbaijan and expanding the existing mutual activities. They expressed readiness to carry out experience exchange with Azerbaijani companies.

The meeting participants congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on Azerbaijan`s rapid development and pointed to the country`s attractiveness from a business point of view.