Azerbaijan, Baku, April 6 / Trend S. Ahmedova/
Azerbaijan is trying to contribute to Europe more than it gets from Europe "because we see Europe as one family and we would like to be an active contributor to Europe as well," Ali Hasanov, head of Political and Public Affairs Department at the Presidential Administration in Azerbaijan told the New Europe magazine.
"Economy is one of the major parts of this contribution and we are actively investing in European states," Hasanov said following an event by the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and The Business Year magazine, which highlighted Azerbaijan's economic development.
The Business Year magazine gave Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev a "Man of the Year" award based on an opinion poll conducted among partners and readers of the magazine that includes international government officials and business executives.
Hasanov told New Europe that in the past Azerbaijan was seeking investment from Europe. "But now we are investing back to Europe and we are seeing a growing role of Azerbaijan in the participation of European energy supply," the article says.
According to the New Europe magazine, in his speech earlier, Hasanov said that in the past 10 years Azerbaijan's GDP increased five times while investment increased 10 times. "Azerbaijan has become one of the most stable developing countries," he said. Despite the economic crisis that lasted three years, Azerbaijan has managed to grow and has made its economy attractive, he added.
According to the article, Hasanov noted that Azerbaijan plays a key role in energy and non-energy sectors, especially in ICT development.
On that note, Hasanov told New Europe on the sidelines of the presentation that in the last few months Azerbaijan has been trying to involve influential European institutions towards solution of Nagorno-Karaback conflict.
"There are three most influential European institutions: EU, NATO and the OSCE. And, of course, we should mention the Council of Europe because we are actively partnering with the Council of Europe. But one of the most influential European institutions in terms of regional security is NATO. Regarding economic relations of European continent, we foster relations with the EU," Hasanov said in his interview.
"Unfortunately those two organisations are not actively dealing with the Nagorno-Karabach issues. They indirectly make statements, recognising territorial integrity and calling both parties to come to a peaceful settlement. But we believe that the capacity that these two institutions have in ensuring regional security is much more and they should use it," he added.
According to the magazine, Hasanov urged the EU and NATO to take more influential steps towards resolving the frozen conflict.
"I think they can call on Armenia to fulfil the international obligations towards establishment of peace in this region. This will, of course, result in securing peace in the region and this will definitely influence more secure supply of energy resources to the EU - because peace is necessary not only to South Caucasus but also to the European continent," Hasanov said in his interview.
According to the magazine, Hasanov said that Europe has economic, energy and security interests in this region so raising these issues frequently will likely attract influential EU institutions to this important subject.