May 18
Azerbaijan achieved energy security, now provides it for others, president says
Azerbaijan is already playing an important role for the energy security of Europe, President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening ceremony for the 3rd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku.
"Azerbaijan plays a very positive role on the regional scale," he said. "Our initiatives are aimed towards strengthening regional cooperation, issues related to energy security."
He added that Azerbaijan's projects and initiatives go far beyond the region.
"These are the projects that connect countries and continents," he said.
President Aliyev said that if one looks at the transportation infrastructure, Azerbaijan is restoring a historic Silk Road, building a new railroad connection between Europe and Asia.
May 19
Azerbaijan, China to cooperate in regulation of securities and futures markets
Azerbaijan and China expand cooperation in the sphere of regulation of the securities and futures markets.
This is envisaged by the memorandum signed by Rufat Aslanli, chairman of the State Securities Committee of Azerbaijan and Xiao Gang, chairman of the China securities regulatory commission.
"The purpose of the memorandum is to ensure the investor protection and the promotion of the integrity of the securities and futures markets and other related investment instruments by expanding the scope of cooperation, strengthening the exchange of regulatory and technical information," a statement said.
The document was signed during a working visit of the delegation headed by Aslanli to China.
May 20
Some Turkic-speaking countries to create single tourism package
Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan plan to create a single tourism package called "Modern Silk Road".
In this regard, a memorandum of understanding was signed during the meeting of the tourism ministers in Baku within Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States.
The council's secretary general Ramil Hasanov told reporters that the main purpose of the memorandum is to support the creation of a joint tourism product of Turkic-speaking countries, increase the role of the private sector representatives from the member states and expand their cooperation.
It was noted that Hungary and other countries can also join this cooperation in the future.
Azerbaijan, Poland sign agreement on maritime transport
Azerbaijan and Poland signed an agreement on maritime transport, the State Maritime Administration of Azerbaijan said.
A delegation headed by Gudrat Gurbanov, head of the State Maritime Administration, visited Warsaw, the statement said.
The agreement contains such provisions as banning of discrimination in the relations between the two sides and free competition, the conditions created for ships in the ports, internal waters and territorial seas, the mutual recognition of documents of ships, technical cooperation, international obligations, conflict settlement and others.
May 21
Azerbaijan, Kuwait improve air traffic
Kuwait and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement and a memorandum of understanding to organize aviation services between the two countries, Kuwait's media reported.
The talks aimed at updating procedures organizing air operations between both nations, besides boosting cooperation in the civil aviation field to reach maximum flexibility in the air services.
The agreement envisaged commercial cooperation among a number of aviation companies in both countries to facilitate passengers' transport. It also included exchange of transport rights along with a number of privileges and facilities to enhance coordination in the field of civil aviation's safety and security.