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Azerbaijan, France eye cooperation in nuclear research, aerospace

7 July 2015 15:29 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan, France eye cooperation in nuclear research, aerospace

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and France mulled range of cooperation issues, as Matthias Fekl, the Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Promotion of Tourism and French Nationals Abroad, accompanied by a delegation of French businesses visited the country on July 5-6.

During the visit the two sides discussed bilateral economic relations, particularly in the transportation, space, nuclear research, and energy sectors.

At the meeting with the French delegation, Communications and High Technologies Minister Ali Abbasov noted the successful development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and France in various areas, including in the fields of space industry and nuclear research.

Touching upon the active role of French companies in Azerbaijan’s economy, the minister highlighted the involvement of French companies in the launch of the country’s first telecommunications satellite Azerspace-1 into orbit.

The satellite, which will operate in orbit for at least 15 years, was launched in February 2013. The satellite is operated by Azercosmos and provides its customers in Europe, Africa, Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia with highly reliable broadband and broadcast solutions.

The French minister, for his turn, shared his impressions of the Baku 2015 first European Games. The minister congratulated the Azerbaijani people on this occasion and hailed the excellent organization of the Games. He also went on underlining the success of Azerbaijani athletes who placed second in the overall ranking with 56 medals, leaving France behind.

The French minister also met with Samir Sharifov, Azerbaijani Finance Minister on June 6.

Sharifov informed the delegation on Azerbaijan's recent socio-economic successes achieved under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, and praised bilateral ties between the two countries.

The Azerbaijani minister said French companies were successfully operating in Azerbaijan, noting how reciprocal visits contribute to expanding relations between the two sides.

Fekl, for his part, said that the next meeting of the Azerbaijan-France intergovernmental economic commission would be held in Paris.

He highlighted the great opportunities for further expanding bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and France.

The French minister also met with Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev while in Baku.

The sides discussed the current state and prospects of cooperation between the two sides in the spheres of tourism and culture.

Garayev also emphasized that he highly appreciated French support in adoption of the “Preventing the use of conflict zones as a tourist regions and the use of tourism for illegal purposes” resolution at the 100th session of Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization held in Croatia this May.

However, the Azerbaijani minister stressed that the state and private organizations of this country should make more efforts to implement this resolution at tourist exhibitions held in France.

The meeting also discussed questions on the simplification of visa procedures, tourist routes, the organization of a joint infotours, cooperation in training in tourist management, and culinary exchange projects.

As part of his visit to Baku, Fekl viewed the buses of BakuBus LLC, opened in June 2015 and created to provide Baku passengers with the services meeting international standards and supply this sector with the up-to-date transport means.

The company’s bus fleet includes 151 Iveco Crealis and 151 Iveco Urbanway buses. With 26 seats, buses are capable of carrying a total of 100 passengers each. They also have seats for the elderly and disabled.

The buses were also used during the first European Games, held in Baku on June 12-28, which hosted more than 6,000 athletes, competing in 20 sporting events.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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