A summit of the Heads of Caspian littoral states started in Baku on Nov. 18, AzerTAj state news agency reported.
The event is attended by Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran and Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedow of Turkmenistan.
Opening the summit President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said the meeting would be an important step to ensure security in the Caspian region.
President Ilham Aliyev pointed out much work has been done so far to determine the Caspian legal status. He expressed hope that practical results will be achieved in the future in this direction.
The Azerbaijani leader noted the fact that the legal status of the Caspian remains unsettled had not have any impact on friendly relations among the countries, adding steps Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan took towards sectoral division of the Caspian will be a good basis in the future.
President Aliyev said Azerbaijan is an active participant of the East-West and North-South corridor projects. According to him, reconstruction of the railway transport is a priority. He noted construction of the new Baku trade seaport would serve interests of all Caspian nations.