Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend A.Gasimova, A.Badalova / On the 18th of June 2007 in Baku, The Republic of Azerbaijan, the first Meeting between the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM and Japan took place at the level of the GUAM Council of Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Mr. Mitoji Yabunaka, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan. The meeting was held in the framework of the Second Summit of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM in Baku on the 18th to the 19th of June 2007.
As an alternative to CIS the four post-Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, established this format in 1999, during the summit of the head of state of the European Union member-countries in Strasbourg. In 1999 Uzbekistan joined the organization, but left after four years. GUAM was established as an economic alliance of countries - potential participants of energy resource transportation projects.
During the meeting, both sides touched upon the main topics of GUAM - Japan political dialogue, including initiatives in strengthening democracy, increasing security and stability, peaceful resolution of conflicts on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions, developing civil society, as well as deepening mutual support within major international organizations
GUAM expressed its deep interest in investments of Japan in priority areas of cooperation, including energy, transport, in particular the corridor between Europe - Asia through GUAM, and ecology. GUAM and Japan confirmed their intention to work towards business promotion and further improvement of the investment environments.
Taking note of the mutual interest in the spheres of energy and ecology, and the well-developed energy saving technology of Japan, the Japanese proposed in organizing a workshop within Tokyo promoting energy saving technology for officials and researchers of the GUAM countries in 2007. The GUAM countries expressed their appreciation and their cooperation to attend the workshop.
On June 18th, 2007 in Baku, The Republic of Azerbaijan, in the framework of the Second Summit of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM, the Council of the Heads of State held a meeting with Lech Aleksander Kaczynski, the President of the Republic of Poland.
"Poland fully endorses the guiding principles of GUAM as elaborated in its statutory documents: dedication to democratic values and laws, mutually beneficial economic cooperation and striving for peaceful resolutions of the protracted conflicts in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova," he stated. " Poland affirms its attachment to the principle of preserving the territorial integrity of these states within their internationally recognized borders in the final process of settling of the conflicts," he added.