Baku, August 24, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Italy Augusto Massari.

Ambassador Augusto Massari reviewed a guard of honor.

Augusto Massari presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then spoke with the ambassador.

The head of state hailed successful development of Azerbaijan-Italy bilateral relations, underlining the two countries' partnership in a number of areas, including in political, economic and energy ones.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that the Joint Declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries adopted in Rome in 2014 reflects the level of bilateral relations, describing this as indicative of the excellent level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy.

The head of state also hailed a large number of opportunities for expanding Azerbaijan-Italy partnership in various fields.

Describing the political relationship between the two countries as excellent, President Ilham Aliyev noted that the work on the Southern Gas Corridor project successfully continues.

The head of state noted the importance of diversifying economic cooperation in order to keep balance in bilateral cooperation and increase trade. President Ilham Aliyev emphasized the significance of achieving this not only by increasing oil supplies, but also by further developing trade relations.

Saying a large number of Italian companies are operating in a variety of areas in Azerbaijan, the head of state hailed good opportunities for increasing the number of investment companies in the country, which would contribute to increasing the volume of export products in both directions.

President Ilham Aliyev wished the ambassador success during his diplomatic tenure in Azerbaijan.

Desribing Azerbaijan-Italy bilateral relations as excellent, ambassador Massari noted that he felt this within a few days of his visit to Azerbaijan where he saw a great number of Italians and Italian brands. Augusto Massari noted that stability, religious tolerance and multiculturalism in Azerbaijan create good opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.

The Italian ambassador said that development of relations with Azerbaijan on the basis of the Joint Declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries adopted in Rome in 2014 is of pivotal importance to the Italian government. He emphasized that he will spare no efforts to further strengthen Azerbaijan-Italy bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas.

They underlined the importance of the Italian side's support for the negotiations on the Partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

They also hailed high potential for developing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, space industry, infrastructure, agriculture, trade, education, culture and healthcare.