BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 5. Azerbaijan's Prime Minister Ali Asadov met with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Turchin as a part of his official visit to the country on May 5, a source in the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.
Asadov congratulated Turchin on his appointment as Prime Minister of Belarus and wished him success in the work of his government.
The two heads of government discussed current issues of Azerbaijani-Belarusian trade and economic cooperation during a one-on-one conversation.
Afterwards, the prime ministers continued the negotiations in an expanded format, with the participation of delegations from both countries. During the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction with the high level of Azerbaijani-Belarusian intergovernmental relations and highlighted the dynamic development of mutually beneficial partnership in various fields, thanks to the joint efforts of the presidents of the two countries.
Trade and economic cooperation was deemed a priority area of Azerbaijani-Belarusian relations. Noting the significant growth in the volume of mutual trade in the past year, both sides expressed confidence that the trend of increasing trade turnover would continue.
It was emphasized that special attention is being given to the diversification of mutual trade and the enhancement of investment cooperation. The co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission were tasked with prioritizing this issue.
It was also noted that the joint business forum organized during the visit would serve these goals, with several agreements expected to be signed on mutually beneficial projects in various areas.
Special attention was placed on the implementation of agreements and instructions from the presidents of both countries. In particular, satisfaction was expressed with the successful development of several projects that have been brought to a logical conclusion.
Pointing out the fruitful cooperation in industrial cooperation, both sides paid particular attention to the interaction between the Ganja Automobile Plant and leading Belarusian machine-building enterprises to continue and expand the work on the assembly of both agricultural and municipal machinery. Both sides welcomed the productive collaboration on the joint assembly of firefighting equipment at the Ganja Automobile Plant for the needs of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, which was used to ensure fire safety during the COP29 climate conference in November last year. The successful implementation of the project to create a joint assembly plant for elevator production in Azerbaijan, which the Prime Minister of Belarus will visit during his trip, was also highlighted.
The sides noted the positive dynamics of cooperation in agriculture and expressed mutual readiness to diversify and increase mutual supplies of agricultural products.
In this regard, the role of the Azerbaijan Trading House in Minsk in expanding the export of Azerbaijani products to the Belarusian market was emphasized.
A promising area for cooperation was identified in the social sphere, including in the provision of public services, and the importance of signing bilateral documents in this area at the conclusion of the meeting was emphasized.
Both sides welcomed successful cooperation in the field of production of pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations.
Satisfaction was expressed with the traditionally high level of cultural and humanitarian cooperation. The heads of government welcomed the resumption of the tradition of holding mutual Culture Days, the activation of scientific, student, and youth exchanges, and the expansion of interregional cooperation.
The implementation of measures to develop cooperation in vocational and technical education through the exchange of scientific and technical expertise was also noted.
During the meeting, there was a detailed exchange of opinions on the prospects for further enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation. The readiness for continued joint work on the implementation of the heads of state’s instructions was reaffirmed.
Following the meeting, several documents related to cooperation in social security, veterinary and industry were signed.
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