Azerbaijan, Poland outline prospects of cooperation
The recent visit of Azerbaijani president to Warsaw as well as signing of several important documents symbolized a new stage of Polish-Azerbaijani relations.
President Ilham Aliyev paid a two-day official visit to Poland on June 26 at the invitation of his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, during which the sides hailed successful development of the two countries’ cooperation and outlined the future of the bilateral ties.
During the meeting, the presidents discussed prospects for cooperation in the fields of transport, railway, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, mechanical engineering, tourism, food industry, construction, and pharmaceutical industry.
President Duda said political relations between the two countries are developing successfully, and stressed the importance of increasing the bilateral trade.
Duda also highlighted that Poland supports settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity and based on the four resolutions of the UN Security Council.
President Aliyev said the visit creates a good opportunity for discussing prospects of the bilateral ties. The head of state pointed out good opportunities for expanding economic relations between the two countries, and emphasized the importance of Azerbaijan-Poland business forum in this regard.
Six documents in the spheres of economy, defense, energy, transport, education and railway were signed after the meeting.
Following the ceremony of signing documents, President Aliyev and President Duda made statements for the press.
"I am satisfied that we have signed these documents," said Polish President during press conference, emphasizing that they aimed to intensify economic, scientific and political cooperation.
He added that the economic potential of both countries is very large and its annual volume is approximately $100 million. However, trade between Poland and Azerbaijan was "very modest" compared with the possibilities, according to Duda.
He expressed hope that the strong support of the countries' heads of state will bring good results in the future.
Duda also spoke about the direct railway connection between Azerbaijan and Poland through the territories of Georgia and Ukraine, saying that it will lead to the expansion of trade relations and contacts.
In his speech, President Aliyev recalled the former President Kaczynski, who was the “close friend of Azerbaijan” and put many efforts in strengthening friendship between two countries.
“We are embarking on a new stage of Polish-Azerbaijani relations today. In essence, this is a logical continuation of the era of President Kaczynski,” he said.
Azerbaijan’s head of state stressed the significance of the documents signed, adding that they will determine the prospects for our cooperation.
“Among them, of course, I would like to note the joint declaration on strategic partnership and economic cooperation signed by the Presidents. This declaration covers practically all areas of our relations, including political, economic, energy and transport issues,” he said.
President Aliyev also congratulated Poland with the country being chosen as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and stated that the two countries agreed to support each other within the framework of international organizations.
Azerbaijan’s head of state expressed his confidence that transport and energy should become the main spheres to develop in economic bloc.
“Azerbaijani oil reaches Polish markets. Today Azerbaijan together with partner countries is successfully implementing a giant project – the Southern Gas Corridor. This project will take Azerbaijani gas to Europe,” he said, adding that Azerbaijan will thus assert itself as a very reliable partner of Europe.
President Aliyev underlined that there is already a format of regional cooperation in transport sphere and the next task is to deepen this cooperation and attract European countries to it.
“The recent meeting of railway leaders held in Baku suggests that a format for broad international cooperation is already being created. I am glad that Poland is also participating in this format,” he said.
Following the press conference, the heads of state attended the Azerbaijan-Poland business forum.
Addressing the event, Duda has described Azerbaijan as his country’s important partner in the South Caucasus and Caspian Sea region.
“In this context, we put a special emphasis to strengthening economic cooperation with Azerbaijan,” he said.
He referred to the documents signed earlier in the day, expressing his confidence that they will give impetus to the bilateral trade relations.
President Aliyev, in his speech, once again underlined the importance of economic cooperation.
“Today’s business forum is another indicator of that because business communities are very sensitive and they clearly understand that today the high level of political relations between Poland and Azerbaijan opens new opportunities for them,” he said.
President Aliyev said that during the meeting the sides discussed the ways of increasing trade turnover.
“There is a good opportunity to stimulate our economic ties, and also to have a very clear picture of our export potential, what we can export to each other and what kind of joint business projects we can implement,” he added.
Azerbaijan’s head of state hailed the economic growth in both countries.
“Today Azerbaijan demonstrates a very good economic performance. Since 2004, our economy has grown more than three times, and we managed to reduce unemployment and poverty down to the level of five-six percent,” he said.
President Aliyev highlighted that economically and politically Azerbaijan is a stable country, a country which has attracted more than $200 billion worth of investment during the last 20 years.
“We want to work with Polish companies as partners in different projects in Azerbaijan, in Poland. We invite companies from Poland to be our partners in projects, which are being implemented in Azerbaijan – energy, transportation, and construction projects. We invite them as contractors,” he noted.
The head of state also talked about implementation of important energy and transportation projects such as East-West transportation corridor, South-West corridor, Southern Gas Corridor project and other achievements in these areas.
Finally, President Aliyev once again called on Polish companies to become partners and establish closer business contacts with Azerbaijan.
In the course of his visit to Warsaw, President Aliyev also held meetings with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Marshal of the Senate Stanisław Karczewski.