President Aliyev meets Lithuania's minister
By Nazrin Gadimova
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Lithuania's Interior Minister Dailis Alfonsas Barakauskas on April 14.
Barakauskas conveyed greetings of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite to the President.
President Aliyev thanked President Grybauskaite for her greetings, and asked Barakauskas to pass on his greetings to the Lithuanian leader.
Speaking at the meeting, President Aliyev said Azerbaijan achieved rapid economic growth on all fronts.
Barakauskas, in turn, said great development processes that had taken place since his last trip made deep impressions on him, adding that he had repeatedly visited Azerbaijan.
The sides also exchanged views over issues related to cooperation between Azerbaijan and Lithuania.
Azerbaijan's Emergency Situations Minister, Colonel-General Kamaladdin Heydarov then met Barakauskas to discuss how to develop cooperation in managing the emergency situations.
Following the meeting, the Lithuanian minister visited Azerbaijani Ministry's Crisis Management Center, Public Affairs Department's Multimedia Center, Emergency Situations Academy and State Fire Service.
Currently the Azerbaijan-Lithuania inter-parliamentary friendship group as well as the intergovernmental commission on cooperation between the two countries continues work. Its third meeting was held in Vilnius this year and the next year it is planned to be held in Baku.
According to the statistics of Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee, foreign trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Lithuania increased by 9.4 percent in January-September 2013 compared to the same period last year and reached $17.58 million. During 2013, Azerbaijan's imports increased by 12.2 percent and reached $15.7 million, while exports decreased by 9.5 percent and reached $1.9 million.