Baku, May 31, AZERTAC

Azerbaijani and Colombian foreign ministries have held the fourth round of the political consultations as Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Colombian counterpart Maria Angela Holguin on the sidelines of his official visit to Bogota.

The sides talked about the importance of exchange of high level visits for enhancing the contacts at the various levels between the governments and holding a political dialogue in a regular basis. In this regard, the ministers particularly pointed out that establishment of diplomatic missions has served as an added impulse for dynamism of bilateral cooperation.

Minister Mammadyarov said that there are wide ranges of opportunities for the development of cooperation in the framework of Azerbaijan-Colombia Parliamentary Friendship Groups. He mentioned that the documents adopted by the Senate of Colombia, namely resolution on “Illegal occupation of the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan” and document on the 25th anniversary of Khojaly Genocide are highly appreciated.

Briefing his counterpart about the current status of negotiation process on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, FM Mammadyarov thanked the Government of Colombia for the consistent support, which based on principles of international law, namely sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders of States, to fair stance of Azerbaijan in the settlement of conflict.

Furthermore, Elmar Mammadyarov congratulated the People of Columbia for the signed Peace Agreement which put an end to long-lasting conflict in the country and added that the Peace Agreement would bring lots of opportunities for sustainable development of the country.

The Azerbaijani Minister mentioned that the trade turnover between the two countries doesn’t meet the current potential and talked about the importance of establishment of Joint Working Group on cooperation in the trade-economy sphere.

Talking about the cooperation in the humanitarian field, Minister Mammadyarov thanked to the Colombian side for the initiative and support to Spanish language courses for the diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, FM Elmar Mammadyarov said that opportunities are on the table for enhancing and deepening the relations in the sphere of tourism and added that Columbia’s addition to the “ASAN Visa” system would serve to welcome in Azerbaijan more tourists from Colombia.

Mrs. Maria Angela Holguin emphasized that the Government of Colombia attaches special attention to diversification of relations with its new partners and noted that the political consultation is held for achieving that target. Characterizing Colombia as a friend to Azerbaijan, FM Holguin noted that Azerbaijani companies’ participation is welcomed in the sphere of trade, tourism, investments, etc.

Furthermore, Minister Maria Angela Holguin thanked the Republic and Government of Azerbaijan for supporting peace and said that Colombia would gladly cooperate with Azerbaijan in post conflict projects.

The two ministers signed “Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Colombia”.

At the meeting the book entitled “Anthology of poems of Azerbaijan and Colombia” was also presented.

After the meeting, a Joint Press Conference of the Ministers was held.

Furthermore, the foreign ministers joined the working lunch with attendance of well-known members of Colombian business community. Elmar Mammadyarov briefed about the fiscal and economic reforms, measures being taken for diversification of non-oil sector in Azerbaijan and answered the questions.