The Ambassador of France to Azerbaijan, Bernard dyu Shafo stated on January 25th at a press-conference, that France attaches great importance to the forthcoming January 29th to 31st visit of the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, to France. According to him, officials in Paris intend to get familiarized with the position of Baku on many actual regional questions, especially the position of Azerbaijan on Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia; position on the future use of energy resources of the Caspian; settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; and integration into the European Union. The main focus on negotiations will be questions of the future development of the economical, humanitarian and cultural relations between Azerbaijan and France, the Ambassador said.
The visit of the Azerbaijani President will begin on January 29th, with participation in an event in House of Invalids and will continue with a one-to-one meeting with the President of France, Jacque Chirac. Thereafter, the President of Azerbaijan will attend a ceremonial reception. On January 30th, Aliyev will lay a wreath in front of the Memorial Complex and meet with the Mayor of Paris. On the same day, the President of Azerbaijan will meet with the Prime Minister, Chairman of the National Assembly and Chairman of the French Senate. On January 31st Aliyev will go to Lille, on the rapid train. In Lille, the President will meet with the prefect of the city, representatives of local government and heads of enterprises and visit a local industrial enterprise, the Ambassador said.
According to the diplomat, a joint political declaration of the Presidents of the two countries and 7 bilateral agreements are planned to be signed during the visit. Essentially three agreements will be signed; on co-operation with regards to culture, civil defense, tourism, science and problems of families, children and women.