Esteemed Presidents,

Esteemed heads of delegations,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I cordially welcome all of you to Azerbaijan.

The summit of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development GUAM in Baku is a very important event. Over the past year, our organization has been intensively developed; all of its bodies are already active. I am convinced that the today’s meeting will contribute greatly to the future of the organization.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ukraine and its President Mr. Viktor Yuschenko, who had presided over GUAM in the previous year, for contributions to development of the organization.

I would like to specially welcome our friends, the presidents of the friendly nations who are also participating in our meeting -- the presidents of Lithuania, Poland and Romania, the Vice-President of Bulgaria and delegations from Latvia, Estonia and the United States of America have joined us today. It, in itself, is an indicator, which shows that for a short period of time, GUAM has turned into a very serious international organization. The goals and intentions of GUAM are of great interest to the friendly nations as well. Our work is based on common interests. Good relationships among GUAM member-states in bilateral and multilateral formats, indeed, serve strengthening of the organization.

The presence here today of the heads of European Union countries, is, certainly, of great importance also for the future of the organization. I am convinced this summit meeting will make a great contribution both to the future activity of the organization and, in the broad sense, to the problems of regional cooperation.

Today, we are already talking about a new format of regional cooperation. It is the cooperation of the Caspian Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea regions. Of course, our economic relations, political intentions, active political dialogue, as well as the real and concrete programs and projects developed, is what brings us even closer. The organization GUAM is playing an important role in the regional cooperation on the Eurasian continent, and the attention paid by the friendly countries to this organization creates good conditions for solving outstanding tasks.

Huge possibilities exist in the field of economic cooperation. High rates of economic growth have been observed in Azerbaijan over the past years. For the past three years, we have maintained a world-leading position in economic growth. Our economy grew 25% in 2005, 35% in 2005, and again 35% for the three months of 2007. Our economic relations with the friendly countries, undoubtedly, strengthen with increasing of our economic potential. We have established very good political relationships. I would like to reiterate that we have common political goals in terms of integration into the EuroAtlantic structures. Presence here of the leaders of the European Union and NATO member-countries, definitely, makes our integration policy more effective and opens new opportunities for the cooperation.

Developing our political and economic relations, we are working on concrete projects, including in energy and transport sectors. Azerbaijan is becoming a very important country to produce and export oil and gas. We have huge oil reserves. Azeri oil is already transported to the world and European markets through the three large pipelines. According to refined estimates, Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields alone contains 1 billion 200 million tons of oil. Exploration works in those fields are going on effectively. Next year, daily oil production in Azerbaijan is expected to be not less than 1 million barrels. It is a high indicator, and it will grow further in the coming years.

Operating oil pipelines are Baku-Supsa, Baku-Novorossiysk and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. Besides, there was a wide-ranging exchange of views on the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk oil pipeline at the recent summit in Krakow. Our countries supported the project. Shortly after that, the working groups started with success. I am sure that by joining our efforts we will ensure diversification of export - for some countries even that of import - in that direction. Also of great interest to the European market is natural gas, which will be extracted in Azerbaijan from the large Shah Deniz field and other fields. We have already started the intensive work on that. Gas reserves in the fields, which are currently under exploitation in Azerbaijan, are estimated at 1.5 trillion cubic meters. It is a large number. Today, a very modern transport infrastructure exists to deliver Azerbaijani gas to the European market. The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline is already operating. This year Azerbaijan has become a gas exporting country. As much as 70-75% of Georgia’s gas market is currently being covered with gas from Azerbaijan. I am convinced that transportation of the Azeri gas to Turkey and Greece will start by the end of this year, thereby bringing Azerbaijan to the European Union market. It is just the beginning. I am sure gas production will be in accordance with Europe’s needs, and Azerbaijan will become a very reliable energy partner. We signed the memorandum of understanding on energy partnership with the European Union. It is the framework, in which we will continue acting in energy sector.

Transport issues are of great importance as well. We, so to speak, opened energy corridors from the Caspian Sea to Europe and the world markets. The oil and gas pipelines mentioned above turn it into reality. Of course, it should be followed by development of transport infrastructure. Together with Turkey and Georgia, we are working on the railroad project to connect Europe and Asia. This project is also of great economic and geopolitical importance. I am convinced we will start construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad in the near future. Cargo to be carried through this corridor will certainly bring huge economic benefit to both exporters and importers.

In other word, we are working in various fields including political, economic, regional, transport and energy ones, and real programs have been worked out for each of them. We have not only intentions but also concrete programs and initiatives. By successfully implementing its oil strategy, even though in the complex geopolitical situation, Azerbaijan has managed to achieve high results. Currently, Azeri oil and gas contribute to ensuring European energy security.

Not only historic ties but also common political views and interests is what unites GUAM nations. Unfortunately, there are also enough things, which create problems for our countries. The most important of them are separatist tendencies and actions taking place in three of the GUAM countries. Territorial integrity of Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan is violated. By unleashing military aggression against our countries, the separatist regimes managed to occupy our lands. We are trying to solve the problem through negotiations, peacefully. But we see that should we not create a powerful state, strong economy, strong military potential, the separatist forces will hardly leave the occupied territories of their own accord. That is why we are trying to consolidate our efforts. The GUAM initiative on the frozen conflicts is of great importance today. Separatism, policy of ethnic cleansing, occupation of lands and appearance of millions of refugees and internally displaced persons is what all the three countries Georgia, Moldova and Azerbaijan have went through. It is natural that we see the resolution of the problem only on the base of the international law. Restoration of our territorial integrity is our basic condition. We can use the Europe’s good experience to agree on granting a high self-governing status. The conflicts can be resolved on this basis only. It is gratifying that GUAM demonstrates a common approach to this problem. Inclusion of the issue of the frozen conflicts in the UN’s agenda is, of course, our important political and diplomatic success.

GUAM is entering a new stage. The name Organization for Democracy and Economic Development speaks for itself. It includes ideas of democracy, human rights, civil society, rule of law, integration into international and European structures, as well as economic reforms, strengthening of economic potential and rise in people’s standard of living.

In Azerbaijan, the work is underway in both directions. Our country is being modernized, and it is carrying out the policy of intensive economic and political integration into Europe.

Dear friends, I welcome you once again to Azerbaijan. I would like to thank all the guests for coming. I do not doubt that the today’s summit of GUAM will have a positive impact on both activity of the organization and the processes taking place in the region.

Thank you for your attention.