Baku, September 15, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received a delegation led by Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.

President Ilham Aliyev hailed Azerbaijan-France bilateral relations, saying they cover many areas. He noted the importance of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne`s visit to Azerbaijan in terms of holding extensive discussions on further development of bilateral relations.

Recalling his official visit to France this year as well as the French presidents' visits to Azerbaijan, the head of state described the political dialogue between the two countries as quite excellent. "As for economic cooperation, many French companies have been successfully operating in Azerbaijan for many years, and they are involved in very important projects both as investors and contractors." President Ilham Aliyev noted that his repeated meetings with the French businessmen and with their organizations contributed to the expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Hailing significant steps taken in the field of education, the head of state underlined that this started with the opening of a French lyceum in Azerbaijan and that now a French university is operating in the country. "This is the manifestation of excellent relations between Azerbaijan and France." President Ilham Aliyev expressed his confidence that France will continue its active work as a mediator in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The head of state expressed his hope that Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne's visit to Azerbaijan will create a good opportunity for him to closely familiarize himself with the country.

Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said: "I am the first member of the newly formed government appointed by President Emmanuel Macron to visit your country. This is a great honor for me. I previously served as a senator and in this capacity made particular efforts to encourage investment making and cooperation with different regions of Azerbaijan."

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne described the fact that the two countries marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as a landmark event. He said these ties have been excellent over these years, and expressed his confidence that they will continue to grow even further in the next 25 years. He noted that it is important to France that Azerbaijan pursues a very successful and multi-vector policy and pays a particular attention to expanding relations with its neighbors. "And this reinforces the independence of Azerbaijan, further enhancing its role as a mediator in the region and on the international scene," said Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, emphasizing the importance of education in this regard.

They discussed the issues relating to the development of cooperation between the two countries in a number of areas, including in energy, transport, subway, space, industry, agriculture, education and culture. They hailed the importance of bilateral relations between regions of the two countries.

They also emphasized the significance of cooperation in fighting against international terrorism and extremism and ensuring security, and underlined serious steps taken by Azerbaijan in this area.

Successful cooperation within the European Union was pointed out at the meeting. Praising the fact that work on a strategic partnership document between Azerbaijan and the European Union was underway after President Ilham Aliyev`s successful visit to the EU at the beginning of this year, they expressed their hope that this work will be completed by the end of the year.

They also exchanged views on the current state of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and prospects of the negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the dispute.