Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Valdis Zatlers of Latvia attended Tuesday Azerbaijan-Latvia business forum here.

The Forum brought together about 120 Azerbaijani and 75 Latvian businessmen.

President Ilham Aliyev made a speech in the event:

“Dear Mr. President!

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Dear guests!

I like to welcome you all in Azerbaijan and express my gratitude to President of Latvia that in his delegation many people from business community of Latvia are present. This is very important sign of our partnership. Our relations develop very successfully, and bilateral ties between our countries successfully continue to develop, and the visit of the President of Latvia to Azerbaijan definitely will open a new stage, a new page in our relations in the future. Yesterday we had very fruitful discussions, negotiations, some intergovernmental agreements we signed expand the legislative base of our countries. And having so good political relations in all the areas, of course, also creates opportunities for business communities to cooperate more efficiently, and cooperation in economic area has very good prospects for the future. During the last several years, already there have been substantial achievements in economic cooperation, though the figures of our joint trade are not very high or very big. Still there is a progress, step by step increase of economic turnover between our countries. I hope that business forum - the contact between businessmen of our countries will also help to increase general economic cooperation between our countries. I think that the role of the joint economic commission also will be very important in order to help businessmen to find each other, in order to coordinate various projects and maybe to attract potential investors in the sectors which are more attractive for us. There could be various forms of cooperation and of course, business people can themselves decide what form of cooperation to chose. But, first of all, there should be substantial and broad information about business opportunities, about taxation, about legal framework, investment climate and general economic development. As we discussed yesterday, we see that our economies are not competing economies, they are not competing for markets, but our economies can successfully support each other. And not only economies and also climate and that goes to the development of tourism. Tough yesterday I told Mr. President that we tried very hard to create such a climatic situation that he would feel himself at home which is not very common for Baku in August. But in general summer is very warm and people in Azerbaijan sometimes prefer to go to some places where they can feel themselves in a more, to say, refreshing environment. I am sure that people from Latvia could also enjoy our beaches and our opportunities. So, tourism, cultural exchange, cooperation in information technology areas, in science, in education, so, our agenda is very broad, and of course, we would like to see more economic activities between our companies and joint economic commission can support. Also probably it was already told here if not most probably will be discussed opportunities of State Investment Company of Azerbaijan which was created mainly in order to support potential investors in Azerbaijan and outside to participate as co-investors in various projects. We have, in general, very good investment climate and tens of billions of dollars of direct foreign investments in Azerbaijan is a good illustration to that and we held one of the leading places in former Soviet Union and in the region in general with respect to the direct foreign investments per capita. Also economic reforms, economic transformation in Azerbaijan created very good investment opportunities and business climate in general. Our rapid economic growth is reflection of various factors, of course, energy factors are important and increase of production of oil and gas helped us to have very substantial GDP growth in the last five years. But at the same time, non-energy sector development also contributes a lot. We are implementing the policy of economic reforms, our cooperation with European structures and the European Union also has this substantial factor and we want to be closer to the European Union and our participation in the Eastern Partnership Program, of course, will definitely have good impact on economic development in Azerbaijan. Private sector in our country contributes about 85 percent to our GDP. It was a broad program of privatization and the general economic situation and economic reforms in Azerbaijan were also reflected in the assessment of the World Bank which ranked Azerbaijan number one in the world last year in "Doing Business" program. That is reflection of economic reforms and if we look at this year of crisis, economic performance we will see that in the first six month of this year our economy grew 3, 6 percent, but non-energy economy grew 4, 1 percent. So, this is reflection of results we achieved in the last years when we invested a lot in infrastructure, in non-energy sector, there were direct investments on behalf of our state, at the same time, support to local entrepreneurs, and soft loans, very law interest loans which are being granted to local companies help to diversify the economy. This year, we almost 100 percent will satisfy ourselves with agricultural products that will be very important year with respect to food security in Azerbaijan. We are exporters of various agricultural products, but also we were importers. So, this year we will basically satisfy almost all our needs, and that also helps to diversify the economy, because almost half of our population lives in rural area. Therefore, support of agriculture and farmers that is substantial state support, financial support also helps to diversify the economy. Energy factor, of course, in the coming years will continue to be the major sector of our economy and we managed to achieve substantial results. Azerbaijan was the country that first oil in the world was produced. But when Soviet Union collapsed our production was very law and infrastructure was destroyed, and the country which had huge economic potential and huge reserves was in a very difficult situation, so, we were suffering serious economic crisis. We managed by inviting major energy companies to work in Azerbaijan to become important, international oil and gas producer. Our oil production increased during the years of independence more than 5 times and this year will be around 50 million tones of production. Also, Azerbaijan became an important gas exporting country that happened during the last two years. It is before 2007 and we were importing gas from other countries. Now we are exporting and the geography of export is growing. We will supply soon to our other neighbors and also there is a big potential for the future with respect to energy security of the European Union. In 2006, European Union and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation in energy area and this is a good basis for development of these relations. Energy corridors which are being discussed now in various European institutions, actually, initiated by us. First time in the world oil from the Caspian was delivered by pipelines to the ports in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. That actually opens the door, opens the corridor. After that the gas pipeline was constructed and today our gas is transported in all the directions and we have four pipelines which transport our gas north, south and to the western direction. So, energy factor, of course, will dominate other sectors of economy but at the same time we invest a lot in IT, in tourism, in infrastructure, in diversified development of our country. And with a huge state support to infrastructure projects we see the results. Immediately after infrastructure projects are being implemented like power stations, highways, airports, immediately business communities come to those areas. That allows us to create substantial infrastructure, projects and good cervices for people who live 100 kilometers away from the capital. And in this aspect, I think that business community in Azerbaijan and also our partners from friendly countries can see what can be done additionally in order to develop the cooperation. Latvia for us is friendly country, is our partner, having such a good political relations I am sure that business people will also try to be on the same level as political relations are. There are all the opportunities to do it as I mentioned good investment climate, good investment opportunities, liberal economy, stable political situation, high-level of transparency which was also reflected in the United Nations award for Azerbaijan for achievements in transparency. I like to say once again that economy of Latvia and economy of Azerbaijan can successfully support each other and I am sure that today’s business forum will also play important role in this direction. I like once again to welcome all our guests and wish business forum success. Thank you for your attention. “

President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers made his remarks at the forum

“Mr. President!

Excellencies!

Business people of Azerbaijan and Latvia!

Ladies and gentlemen!

It is a matter of true joy and honor for me to address Azerbaijan-Latvian business-forum in Baku. On behalf of myself and the Latvian delegation I would like to thank the organizers of the event for this mutually constructive effort and for the generous hospitality. We are meeting in a time when our governments must deal with a complicated matter, maintaining financial stability by acting quickly to improve the business environment. Major structural changes are seen in the global economy today and the time has come for us to identify new opportunities and to face new challenges. This is a right time to look back and evaluate the results of what has been done up to now. But the most crucial task is the bearing complicated circumstances of the global economic crisis. They must mobilize forces and resources to persuade the new intentions. I hope that our governments will do their best to make conditions for business as advantageous as possible. Close cooperation between businesses and governments is a substantial factor on the way towards the wealthy and sustainable economy.

Ladies and gentlemen!

There are sound foundations for the further development of our business partnership. And effective infrastructure for cooperation has been established. The twenty nine Latvian-Azerbaijani joint ventures are in Latvia at this time. I hope that the number will increase substantially over the next few years. I am also delighted to say that this is improper to use the word “crisis” if you look at our trade turnover over last year. Though amounts are not high, Latvian exports doubled, but imports form Azerbaijan increased by thirty percent. Trade turnover between the two countries continue to grow during the first quarter of 2009, which is the contrast to the global trends of which we are aware. But interest of Latvian business people in Azerbaijan I confirm by large delegation that has accompanied me. There are representatives from the food industry, transport and logistics, informational technologies and communications, construction industry, banking and consulting services, tourism, education and several others. There are companies which are ready operating successfully in Azerbaijan: Riga Dairy, Laci, AirBaltic, Parex Bank, Baltikums Bank, BDO Invest Riga, International Airport Riga, Air Navigations Services and Learning Center and a lot of more. I am pleased that these areas of interest are of strategic importance and they are so diverse. We must look for the cross points at which the business people find mutual advantages, but the task of our governments is to promote the success of these processes at all levels.

Ladies and gentlemen!

The establishment of the legal foundation between our two countries is an important platform for successful and long-term cooperation in various areas. Yesterday the government of the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Azerbaijan signed coupled agreements on cooperation including sports and tourism. Latvian Patents Board and the Azerbaijani Committee of Standardization, Metrology and Patents for their part signed a memorandum of understanding on the exchange of information of the potentially industrial property rights. I believe that these agreements will offer a new and highly quality impulse for the further development of our economic relations. Azerbaijan is a very important and promising partner for Latvia. We are prepared to promote close cooperation between European countries and Azerbaijan as well as other countries of the Caspian region. Latvia can be more than just a trading partner. We can also be a strategic springboard for work in the other European countries. Latvia is located at the crossroads among Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Western Europe. Our country has an outstanding road and railway infrastructure as well as ports, which make it possible to ship transit cargoes via major transportation corridors existing in our region. You may take the advantage of the experience of your partners in Latvia as you entered the economic and administrative environment of the European Union. Direct flights between Riga and Baku are an important element in the further development of business partnerships. I advise you to use Riga airport as a transit facility when you travel to Scandinavia or Central Europe. I wish to point out that Latvia has traditionally supported a strengthening of trade relations with Eastern partners. We expect the Eastern partnership initiative to provide an additional stimulus for further economic integration resulting in a deep and comprehensive free trade area between the European Union and Azerbaijan. We support accession of Azerbaijan to the World Trade Organization as soon as possible. Integration to international trade system will allow Azerbaijan to diversify its export structure.

Ladies and gentlemen!

I wish to say that our countries are seeking adequate solutions to challenges related to energy security. I am sure that only close cooperation between the European Union and the countries of the Caspian Sea region can ensure stable and sustainable energy security for the citizens. Latvia fully recognizes Azerbaijan as a key player in the supply of energy resources from the Black Sea and the Caspian region to Europe. We hope that in the future Azerbaijan’s natural gas reserves will be delivered to Europe via the Nabucco gas pipeline. Latvia supports European efforts to diversify delivery roots and sources not only in terms of natural gas but also of oil. An oil pipeline from Odessa to Gdansk, via Brody and Plotsk will be an important investment in the risk diversification in the area of European energy resources deliveries. Latvia is supporting the concept of Baltic - Black Sea - Caspian transit line that will be a substantial supplement to the transit routes for energy resources from Central Asia to Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Courage, ambition and initiative are keas to success in business. I am certain that your presence here confirms that you are prepared to be open and active in the search of new opportunities. I hope that this state visit will provide you strong inspiration for the establishment of new contacts and this business forum will be a successful point of reference for ongoing sustainable cooperation and mutually advantageous projects.

Good luck, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your attention.”

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