Baku, June 22, AZERTAC

Following the meeting in an expanded format, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon have made press statements.

Statement of President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear Mr. President,

Distinguished guests, dear friends!

I would like to sincerely welcome the Moldovan delegation to Azerbaijan. The President’s visit is a very important event in the bilateral relations between our countries. I am confident that the visit will give a good impetus to the dynamic development of Moldovan-Azerbaijani relations.

Today we discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest and have already outlined ways for further joint activities. We will continue to strengthen political ties and actively work together in international organizations. The visit of the President is an indicator of mutual respect and mutual interest we have for each other. I would also like to note that the official visit of President of Moldova Mr. Dodon to Azerbaijan is one of his first official visits. And we regard the fact that he has come to our country as a sign of great respect for Azerbaijan.

We have also extensively discussed issues related to trade and economic cooperation. There is good potential. Relevant instructions have already been given for our bodies to speed up the process of increasing our turnover. For this, of course, we expect that a joint intergovernmental commission will meet in the near future. It has not gathered for a long time, and this session will discuss important issues on how to increase mutual trade, what investment opportunities there are, what infrastructure projects there are and where our companies could work together. So this block of questions is also of great importance because we can’t be pleased with the present level of trade and economic relations, of course. We know that there is much more potential. Also, cooperation in the field of energy and transport has great prospects. We in Azerbaijan implement many transport and energy projects that have long crossed the borders of our country. It would be interesting to cooperate with Moldovan partners in this direction.

Today we also discussed issues of interregional relations and have already outlined concrete steps to structure or formalize inter-regional relations between different regions of our countries. And, of course, we have reviewed issues related to humanitarian cooperation. The President of Moldova has told me that he met with representatives of the Moldovan community in Azerbaijan yesterday. Also, the Azerbaijani Diaspora in Moldova is very active, and I am grateful to the President for the attention shown to them. This is also an important factor in bilateral relations.

I am sure that today's visit will be an important milestone in the development of our relations, will give necessary dynamism to our relations and help address many important issues, thereby bringing our countries and peoples closer together.

I would like to thank Mr. President for visiting us and wish you, the esteemed Mr. President, and the friendly people of Moldova further success and prosperity. Thank you.