Latvia eager for fruitful political, economic dialogue
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics has visited Baku to continue his country’s fruitful political and economic dialogue with Azerbaijan as well as to discuss the importance issues in international relations.
President Ilham Aliyev received Rinkevics on February 12 to mull the development of Azerbaijan-Latvia relations in economic, transport, agricultural, tourism, cultural and other fields.
President Aliyev stressed the importance of mutual exchange of views against a background of changing situation in the world and in the region. The head of state underlined the importance of increasing bilateral trade and mutual investment and expanding cooperation through attracting business circles.
Rinkevics voiced Latvia's support to signing of the new agreement, which should lead to the improvement of Azerbaijani goods’ access to the EU markets.
“This document will serve not only to strengthening political cooperation between the parties, but also give impetus to strengthening economic relations, particularly with regard to energy cooperation.
The future agreement will also contribute to the improvement of trade between Azerbaijan and the EU, particularly with Latvia,” the minister said.
At the meeting with his Latvian counterpart on February 13, FM Elmar Mammadyarov expressed his confidence that the visit will contribute to the comprehensive development of bilateral relations between the two sides.
Touching upon the relationship of Azerbaijan with the EU, Mammadyarov stressed the importance of the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Brussels and his meetings at the EU.
Rinkevics, for his part, expressed his country’s intention to further advance the comprehensive cooperation on the bilateral and multilateral basis with Azerbaijan. He underscored that Latvia supports Azerbaijan’s strategic partnership relations with the EU.
The meeting was followed by signing of an agreement on visa waivers for the holders of service passports.
Addressing a briefing after the talks, Mammadyarov said that energy and transportation are the main areas of the Azerbaijan Latvia economic cooperation and the two countries intend to develop and deepen relations in these areas.
Baku and Riga are interested in expanding economic ties and also plan to hold a business forum, he said.
“Unfortunately, the level of mutual trade now does not meet our expectations. We agreed to try to hold consultations immediately after the [upcoming] arrival of the president of Latvia in Baku. At first, the consultations will take place at the level of foreign ministers, primarily to assess the contractual legal framework,” Mammadyarov said.
Baku and Riga are discussing projects in energy and transportation, he said, underlining agriculture as a very interesting topic. “Latvia is well enough developed in this sphere. Azerbaijan invests heavily in the agricultural sector and there are topics that can be quite interesting,” the minister added.
At a press conference following the meeting, Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan-Latvia relations are strategic in nature.
In turn, Rinkevics said that Latvia wants the EU and Azerbaijan to sign a new agreement, adding that relations between Azerbaijan and the EU should be based on strategic partnership.
“We are preparing for the summit as part of the Eastern Partnership. We will try to ensure the signing of this document before the summit. We are also interested in cooperation in energy and transport fields between the EU and Azerbaijan,” he added.
Rinkevics further said that Latvia is interested in extending the ZUBR container train route through Ukraine to Azerbaijan and then to China, expressing hope that this issue will be under further scrutiny.
ZUBR is a joint container train project of railway administrations of Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine and Estonia, launched in 2009.
Azerbaijan considers ZUBR as an interesting project that politically unites the three seas – Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Baltic Sea, which in itself means bringing together three different regions.
In an interview with Trend Rinkevics said his visit also targeted preparations for upcoming visit of the Latvian president to Baku next month to participate in the Humanitarian Forum.
Rinkevics made a particular focus on the business cooperation with Azerbaijan, underlining a decline the two countries observed in economic relations due to objective reasons. He stressed the necessity of intensifying work in this direction in the framework of the intergovernmental commission and business communities.
The Latvian minister emphasized that so many Azerbaijani products cannot enter the EU market because of tariffs, duties and quotas.
"Latvia could work much more with Azerbaijan on joint economic projects, if not local taxes. Should there was an agreement that at least partially solve these problems, it would have contributed to the development of trade between our countries. Latvia may offer its services in the wood industry and agriculture. We are able to offer our dairy products. In turn, Latvia is interested in Azerbaijani wines, pomegranate juice, vegetables and fruits,” he explained.
Moreover, Latvia will work on the possibility of launching direct flights from Baku to Riga, according to the minister, which will contribute to the development of tourism between the two countries.
“I welcome the introduction of "ASAN Visa" system in Azerbaijan. The EU also tries to simplify the visa system for the citizens of Azerbaijan,” he said, adding that more flexible visa issuance has been introduced.
Touching upon cooperation in the field of energy, Rinkevics said that Latvia is interested in energy projects of Azerbaijan.
“We are interested in the diversification of oil and gas supplies. We are currently working on the liberalization of the gas market. This is an opportunity to develop relations with Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries, as well as Norway, Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” he noted.
Azerbaijan has initiated variety of significant energy projects of regional importance. Azerbaijan is committed to further development of energy cooperation with the EU by realization of Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), a unique project which will bring Caspian gas to Europe.