BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 5. Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elnur Mammadov visited the Philippines Republic on April 3-5, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry (MFA) told Trend.
As part of the visit, Mammadov met with Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Philippines Enrique Manalo on April 3. At the meeting, the current state and prospects for the development of bilateral relations were discussed. In addition, the importance of joint efforts to achieve practical results in this direction was noted.
On April 4, for the first time, political consultations were held between the Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and the Philippines. The Azerbaijani side at the consultations was led by Deputy FM Elnur Mammadov and the Philippine side by Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Maria Theresa Lazaro.
During the consultations, the current state of bilateral relations, as well as issues of expanding mutual partnership in the fields of economy, tourism, energy, agriculture, culture, and education were discussed.
Elnur Mammadov briefed the opposing Philippines side on the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as on the restoration and construction work carried out on Azerbaijan's liberated territories.
Furthermore, an exchange of opinions on Azerbaijan's activity as part of its chairmanship in the Non-Alignment Movement took place. The prospects of cooperation between the Non-Aligned Movement and ASEAN [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations], as well as between the Economic Cooperation Organization and ASEAN as part of regional and international organizations, were discussed. Moreover, issues of regional and international security of mutual interest were also noted.
After the consultations, the signing ceremony of the first interstate document —"Memorandum of Understanding in the field of culture between the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines" — took place.
In addition, during his visit to Manila, Mammadov gave an interview with the Manila Times news agency. He answered questions about the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries, the prospects for further development and strengthening of these relations, and also provided detailed information about the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the restoration and construction work carried out on Azerbaijan's liberated territories.
