Azerbaijan, France mull cooperation
By Aynur Karimova
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a French delegation led by Andre Vallini, the Secretary of State for Territorial Reform at the French Ministry of Decentralization and Public Service, the member of the government, on November 26.
Saying that the two countries enjoy strong friendly relations, Vallini noted that these relations have become even stronger thanks to personal ties of President Aliyev and French leader Francois Hollande.
President Aliyev once again offered his condolences to the people of France over the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Recalling two visits of the French president to Azerbaijan and his numerous visits to France, the head of state described this as a good sign of the bilateral relations.
Vallini further said that from the first day of his arrival he has seen people laying flowers and wreaths outside the French embassy in Baku as they pay tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks.
The official said he has also read messages, in which the people of Azerbaijan say their thoughts are with France. Vallini believes that all these testified to President Aliyev's and Azerbaijani people's sharing the grief of the French people.
The sides also discussed the issues of the development of Azerbaijani-French relations in a variety of fields, including politics, economy, energy, space industry, defense, education and culture.
Azerbaijan and France established diplomatic relations in February 1992.
French companies are actively participating in the petrochemical, food, agricultural, machine engineering, tourism and other spheres in Azerbaijan.
Some 91 companies from France are involved in the oil and gas projects in Azerbaijan as subcontractors. Also, over 50 French companies are involved in the non-oil sectors' projects, including the first Azerbaijani telecommunications satellite Azerspace, and a plant for solid waste recycling.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and France amounted to $1.681 billion in 2014, while the total volume of French investments in the Azerbaijani economy currently stands at $2.4 billion.
The inter-regional cooperation between Azerbaijan and France is also at a high level. Some 12 Azerbaijani cities signed a cooperation agreement with 10 cities and one province in France.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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