Baku, October 18, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received a delegation led by Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani.

Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani extended greetings of heads of member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to President Ilham Aliyev. He said: "We highly appreciate the level of current relations and are keen to further strengthen these ties. We express our gratitude for your leadership in the development of this relationship."

Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani hailed their participation in the Azerbaijan-Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf business forum, underlining the importance of the event in terms of the expansion of economic ties between Azerbaijan and the member states. He noted the significance of strengthening cooperation with Azerbaijan in terms of ensuring security, stability and economic development in the region.

The Secretary General praised the increase in the number of tourists coming from the Gulf states to Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev hailed the successfully developing relations between Azerbaijan and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf member states, and strong political ties with these countries. He noted the importance of high-level reciprocal visits in expanding these relations.

Noting that great work has been done to develop tourism in Azerbaijan, the head of state hailed the fact that the number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan from foreign countries, including the Gulf states, has steadily increased.

President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that the tourists are shown high hospitality in Azerbaijan, adding that this contributes to the expansion of ties between countries and nations.

Hailing good opportunities for economic cooperation, the head of state underlined favorable conditions for investment in Azerbaijan. He noted the existence of good opportunities for member countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to invest in Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev praised the increasing competitiveness of the Azerbaijani economy, emphasizing that the Davos World Economic Forum has this year increased Azerbaijan`s ranking from 37th to 35th place among the world countries for the competitiveness of the country's economy.

The head of state underlined Azerbaijan's contributions to the Islamic solidarity, saying the country has recently hosted the Islamic Solidarity Games. He emphasized the importance of these Games in terms of strengthening ties between the Islamic countries.

They also discussed the expediency of expanding air communication between Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf member states and Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings of heads of member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and asked the Secretary General to extend his greetings to the heads of member states.

Then President Ilham Aliyev was presented with a keepsake.