Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 7
By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
The governments of Azerbaijan and Iran intend to rapidly conduct huge work to prepare for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Azerbaijan, scheduled for autumn 2014, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Mahmoud Vaezi said during the Azerbaijani-Iranian business forum in Baku on Aug. 7.
Vaezi is also a co-chairman of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation.
"The sides are currently creating the appropriate conditions for closer cooperation between business circles of Azerbaijan and Iran," he added.
"The governments of Azerbaijan and Iran are also working on a new draft agreement on mutual protection of investments," he said.
"Moreover, the visits of the governmental delegations of the two countries are planned to be held in the coming months," he added. "In particular, Iran's minister of health and the head of the customs department will visit Azerbaijan."
"Azerbaijani Minister of Economy and Industry will visit Iran," and he added, the Iranian side has proposed to create an Azerbaijani-Iranian Chamber of Commerce.
Vaezi highlighted the simplification of visa regime for the development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Iran.
"Azerbaijan and Iran intend to develop bilateral cooperation and two presidents have confirmed this in their statements," he said.
"Iran wants to see friendly Azerbaijan as an independent and powerful country," Vaezi said.
He said that Iran was one of the first countries which recognized the independence of Azerbaijan and the Iranian embassy began operating in the country.
"We are pleased with the development of Azerbaijan and its achievements in the political, economic and cultural spheres," the minister added.
"Moreover, the Iranian nation is concerned that more than one million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs," he stressed.
"We want the Azerbaijani people to live in peace and stability," he added. "We officially recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and support the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
Vaezi heads the Iranian delegation, which arrived in Baku to attend the ninth meeting of the Azerbaijani-Iranian intergovernmental commission on trade-economic and humanitarian cooperation. Azerbaijani Minister of Economy and Industry Shahin Mustafayev is a co-chairman of the intergovernmental commission from the Azerbaijani side.