Munich, February 14, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Munich.

Greeting the President of Kazakhstan, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- I am very glad to see you again, Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich. It is a good opportunity to see each other and review the agenda of our relations once again. Everything goes very successfully. We have many joint projects and they are being actively implemented. Therefore, we expect that 2020 will also be successful for the relations between our countries. We very much hope to increase our turnover. I believe there are good opportunities in the transport sector, energy and tourism. Our citizens are actively visiting each other. This also creates very good prospects for the development of this sector in our countries.

Of course, the most important recent event was the signing of the Convention on the determination of the legal status of the Caspian Sea, which we have now ratified. I believe that future cooperation in the Caspian will bring even more dividends to all the Caspian countries.

I would also like to note the active interaction in the communications sector. Last year, the construction of a cable through the Caspian was laid. This is a project that brings our countries even closer together. So we are following the path of progressive development of bilateral relations. I am sure that the friendly and fraternal relations between our countries will further strengthen in the future.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said:

- Dear Ilham Heydar oglu, I am glad to see you here in Munich. We met in Sochi not so long ago. We had a very good meeting. Then we met at the CIS Summit in Ashgabat. As for cooperation between our states, a long road has been covered indeed. We started literally from scratch and have now reached a very high level of development of our relations in almost all areas. The foundation of this cooperation was laid by our great predecessors - Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev and Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev. As foreign minister, I myself was somehow involved in the construction of this cooperation. We have a lot to be proud of. Kazakhstan, of course, appreciates and values its cooperation with Azerbaijan. You said quite correctly that we have areas that are strategic in nature - whether these are transport, communications or trade. We are essentially neighboring states across the Caspian Sea, especially since the relevant Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea was signed in the city of Aktau. This marks the beginning of large-scale cooperation in the Caspian and, of course, this cooperation is strategic in nature. Taking this opportunity, we have just looked at the schedule of visits, including your visits to Kazakhstan and the visits of our first President to Baku. I consider it necessary to invite you to visit our country at any time suitable for you. We really have many issues that need to be discussed and resolved, because life does not stand still. Despite the high level of relations between our countries, new frontiers appear that we need to explore through joint efforts.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much!

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During the meeting, the President of Kazakhstan congratulated the head of state on the successful holding of the parliamentary elections in the country and the victory of the New Azerbaijan Party.

The sides also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest.