President Aliyev: There are good preconditions for increasing cooperation between Azerbaijan, Tajikistan

The visit of the President of Tajikistan to Azerbaijan is an important event in the bilateral relations of two countries, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, while making statement for the press, following the meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon and the signing of a number of agreements.

The visit of the President of Tajikistan to Azerbaijan is an important event in the bilateral relations of two countries, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, while making statement for the press, following the meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon and the signing of a number of agreements.

President Aliyev and Emomali Rahmon, who came for an official visit to Baku on August 10, held a meeting, which discussed the most important issues of mutual interest and further strengthened cooperation between the two nations.

As a result of the visit 12 important documents on cooperation in various spheres including economy, industry, investments, media, energy, security, veterinary service, education, judiciary, and foreign affairs were signed between the relevant ministries and organizations of two countries.

Following the signing ceremony, which was held in the presence of heads of state, Ilham Aliyev and Emomali Rahmon made press statements.

President Aliyev, in his speech, hailed the level of contacts established between two states.

“We often meet in Tajikistan and in Azerbaijan, and our contacts are regular in nature. Also, we always find time within the framework of international events to talk and discuss important issues. But an official visit, of course, is a completely different format, a completely different level of discussion and resolution of issues,” he said.

Ilham Aliyeva pointed out that Azerbaijan closely follows the successful development of Tajikistan under the leadership of President Emomali Sharipovich Rahmon.

“Tajikistan is successfully resolving issues of socioeconomic development. The international authority of your country is growing. You are putting forward very important global initiatives aimed at sustainable development and resolution of important social issues. There is social and political stability in Tajikistan, which is the main factor for sustainable development,” he said.

President Aliyev went on to say that very important issues related to our bilateral agenda and region were discussed both in our private conversation and at the level of delegations.

He also expressed confidence that this visit will have very good results, which will definitely have a positive impact on the socioeconomic interaction between our countries and bring our peoples even closer together.

“Many important documents have been signed today, creating important legal framework for our relations. These documents focus on the final result,” he said.

Ilham Aliyev said that the successful implementation of the agreements reached will lead to a significant increase in the turnover and intensify our work in many areas.

“Of course, among the documents signed I would like to emphasize the Joint Statement of the Presidents of Tajikistan and Azerbaijan we have just signed. This is a fundamental and important political document covering all spheres of interaction between our countries. This document underscores the high level of political relations between our countries. This document reflects the main priorities in the spheres of economic, transport and humanitarian cooperation, as well as of the strengthening of security. The document also touches upon important issues of concern for our countries. Azerbaijan actively supports the initiative Tajikistan has put forward in the UN to declare the next decade, 2018-2028, a decade associated with the "Water for sustainable development" thesis. This is a very important initiative. We support it, as I said. This is reflected in the joint statement that has just been signed,” he said.

The head of state also expressed gratitude to Tajikistan for its position in connection with the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan NagornoKarabakh conflict.

“The statement we have signed says that this conflict must be resolved in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and OSCE decisions, based on the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of the borders of Azerbaijan. On behalf of all Azerbaijani people, I would like to express my gratitude for such a fair position. This is both a friendly attitude and a fair position,” he said.

“After all, the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan has been under Armenian occupation for many years. Armenia flouts the decisions and resolutions of leading international organizations such as the UN Security Council, the OSCE, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and others. All of them have passed decisions and resolutions in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan NagornoKarabakh conflict, stating that the conflict must be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” he said.

President Aliyev then stressed that some serious agreements, which will lead to rapid growth in industrial development of our countries, were reached following the talks that extensively covered issues of trade, economic and transport cooperation.

“We saw once again how interconnected we are and how actively we can resolve issues related to our cooperation. This concerns issues of cooperation in the field of aluminum supplies, this concerns the Memorandum on the supplies of petroleum coke signed today, and many others. These are not just trade and economic agreements – these are projects that will contribute to the development of relations in the economic sphere for many years and create opportunities for creating hundreds of jobs,” he said.

Ilham Aliyev also said that he informed the President of Tajikistan in detail about the transport projects Azerbaijan has implemented jointly with its partners.

“These projects are opening up completely different opportunities for exports, including those from Tajikistan and also from other Central Asian countries, through the territory of Azerbaijan. The launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railrway, as well as the construction of a large commercial port of Alat, have ushered new opportunities for using this corridor for the exports of goods. Of course, we count on an increase in freight traffic from Tajikistan and agreements on this have been reached. We also expect a significant and multiple increase in the transit of cargo through the territory of Azerbaijan to international markets,” he added.

The head of state also said that special delegations to work out issues of close cooperation will be sent to both countries.

Summing up the results of the meetings held, President Aliyev expressed confidence that they will make an important contribution to the further strengthening of fraternal relations between two countries.

Tajik President meets Azerbaijani officials

As part of the visit, Emomali Rahmon met with Azerbaijan's Prime Minister Novruz Mammadov

At the meeting, Rahmon expressed confidence that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan will continue to develop on the basis of friendship and partnership.

Mentioning the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, Mammadov hailed the high-level of the bilateral ties. Stressing that the official visit of the Tajik president to Azerbaijan will be important in terms of deepening political, economic and humanitarian cooperation, Mammadov noted that the high-level meetings and talks held between the presidents of the two countries and the signed documents will open new prospects for the multifaceted relationship and encourage mutual investment making.

President Rahmon congratulated Mammadov on his appointment as prime minister and wished him success in his activities. The Tajik president said he is pleased to visit friendly Azerbaijan, one of the most developed countries of the region, adding that this trip is very fruitful.

President Rahmon pointed out that mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic, trade, mining, agricultural, transport, educational, cultural and other spheres meets the interests of the two countries' peoples.

Mammadov highlighted the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The prime minister blamed Armenia's non-constructive position for the delay in the settlement of the conflict, saying this poses a threat to peace and stability in the region.

They had a broad exchange of views over the development of regional cooperation between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan in the areas of mutual interest.

Rahmon also participated in an Azerbaijani-Tajik business meeting with participation of Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan are developing successfully in all areas, Mustafayev said.

The minister noted that today's business meeting will be another catalyst for the development of bilateral economic relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.

Mustafayev said Azerbaijani entrepreneurs are also interested in developing relations with Tajik colleagues.

“The main areas of interest for Azerbaijani entrepreneurs are such spheres as agriculture and information technologies,” Mustafayev said.

Trade turnover between the two countries amounted about $2.5 million in 1H2018, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan.