Details added (first version posted on 13:48)
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29
Trend:
Today, the Iranian-Azerbaijani relations are of great importance not only for the two countries, but also for the region and the world, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said March 29 addressing the Azerbaijan-Iran business forum in Baku, held with participation of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani.
“Dear President Hassan Rouhani, Dear guests, ladies and gentlemen. President Rouhani is finishing the official visit to Azerbaijan. We can say with full confidence that the visit was very successful and had excellent results."
"The Iran-Azerbaijan ties of friendship and brotherhood are at the highest level today. The talks, discussions held yesterday once again confirm this. We cooperate very actively in political, economic and all other spheres. We regularly hold meetings with President Rouhani. We held 11 meetings over the past four years. This figure itself shows how closely we cooperate and what kind of mutual trust exists between us. And this is natural, because our peoples have lived and created together for centuries,” the head of Azerbaijani state said.
“The common history and culture that unite us are the main factors for our current ties. We are very pleased today with the rapid development of these ties. With such a high level of political ties, we, of course, can implement any economic and transport projects, and we do it. We personally control all the instructions. I am glad that the members of the intergovernmental commission, all the officials who carry out these instructions, honorably fulfill their office duties. Today, the Iran-Azerbaijan relations are of great importance not only for the two countries, but also for the region and, I can say, for the world, because the projects implemented at our initiative are of great importance for the entire region, the Eurasian continent,” President Aliyev noted.
He said a broad exchange of views on development of trade relations was held recently.
“We think the current level of trade relations does not reflect the level of our ties. Therefore, my recommendation to businessmen participating in this business forum is that we must cooperate even more closely. Practical steps should be taken in order to increase the trade turnover. I hope our mutual export will also increase in the coming years. There are opportunities to achieve this,” added the president.