Dubai, May 2, AZERTAC

"Today Azerbaijan has a very successful experience in holding many major sporting events such as the First European Games. The country has created all the necessary infrastructure for holding such events and I am confident that Azerbaijan will excellently host the Fourth Islamic Solidarity Games," Director of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih has said in an interview with AZERTAC.

He said that today various sports events strengthen relations between peoples. “The Islamic world needs such sporting events as they are an excellent platform for meetings and communication of people, including youth, which is considered the driving force of future progress,” he said, adding that such events also strengthen youth's universal values such as tolerance and help save young people from destructive and negative ideology based on misanthropy, racism and extremism.

Touching upon the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to declare 2017 a Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan, Mahboob Musabih pointed out that this initiative is aimed at strengthening trust, mutual understanding, cooperation and integration between Muslim countries.

According to him, today, when the Islamic world faces many challenges, such an initiative is very important and significant and Muslim countries need to make every effort to implement it.

Talking about the current level of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the UAE, Mahboob Musabih noted that the two countries enjoy strong friendly ties and maintain fruitful cooperation in many areas. "Today the UAE is investing heavily in Azerbaijan and the Emirates are the fifth largest investor in Azerbaijan. The customs bodies of our countries have established close ties, in 2011 an agreement on cooperation was signed. I visited Baku in 2015, where our delegation got acquainted with the developed system of customs service of Azerbaijan. We regularly exchange experience with our Azerbaijani colleagues,“ he said.

"I was surprised that Azerbaijan reached such a high level of development in all areas. The country has modern infrastructure, world-class hotels, an extensive transport network, entertainment centers, many cultural and historical attractions and cultural heritage sites. Azerbaijan has become one of the popular tourist destinations for Arab countries. Another important factor in increasing the tourist flow to Azerbaijan is high-level security and services, which allow tourists to feel comfortable," said Mahboob Musabih.

Asya Hajizade

Special Correspondent