Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 13
By Seba Ahmadova - Trend: The U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar met with the students of Azerbaijan State Economic University on Nov.13.
Opening the event with introductory remarks, the university's rector Shamsaddin Hajiyev welcomed the guests and spoke about friendly relations between the two countries.
Hajiyev stressed that the U.S. is the strategic partner of Azerbaijan.
"The relations in the economic sphere between the two countries are developing. The U.S. also cooperates with Azerbaijan in other spheres," he said.
According to the rector, the U.S., the co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group is the leading country in the process of settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Speaking at the event Richard Morningstar expressed satisfaction with the work carried out in the university. He also stressed that the students of this university have been to the U.S. through the exchange programs.
The relations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan are based on three major directions: diversification of energy security and economy, human rights and democracy, as well as cooperation in the sphere of security, the ambassador said.
According to Morningstar, the cooperation in the sphere of security includes Nagorno-Karabakh, Afghanistan and fighting against terrorism.
The U.S. is and will be the reliable partner of Azerbaijan in the sphere of energy security, the ambassador said.
"We actively support Shah Deniz-2 project," he said.
The U.S. also cooperates with Azerbaijan in the sphere of ICT, Morningstar said.
"The U.S. supports Azerbaijan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The membership in WTO will play an important role in emergence of the competitive private sector and will allow to achieve important goals. We provide technical support to the Ministry of Economy and Industry in order to assist and expedite the accession [of Azerbaijan] to the WTO," the ambassador said.