Minister: Great Britain maintains close, strategic relations with Azerbaijan
By Gunay Hasanova
UK Minister of State for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Alan Duncan has congratulated Azerbaijani people on the 25th anniversary of restoration of the country’s independence.
The United Kingdom is the largest investor in Azerbaijan, Duncan mentioned in his congratulation, which was posted on the official page of the British Embassy in the social network Facebook.
“On behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, I am delighted to send my congratulations to the Azerbaijani people on the 25th anniversary of independence. The UK enjoys a close and strategic relationship with Azerbaijan. We are the country’s largest foreign investor and we remain committed to supporting Azerbaijan’s democratic development, security, and prosperity. We look forward to building on this as we continue to work closely with the Azerbaijani government and people to strengthen our economic and cultural ties,” reads the message.
The minister also voiced his country’s full support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to broker the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and building of a peaceful and prosperous future for Azerbaijan and its neighbors.
The UK and Azerbaijan enjoy cooperation in different spheres such as education, trade, tourism, ICT, as well as other infrastructure and transit projects.
The cooperation in the energy sector is currently the key factor of the bilateral economic relations between the two countries. Azerbaijan cooperates with the United Kingdom in the field of exploration and transportation of oil and natural gas from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. BP as a leading oil company, which has launched its operations in Azerbaijan in 1992, participates in the main production sharing agreements such as the “Contract of Century” (Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) and the Shah Deniz project.
The trade turnover between the UK and Azerbaijan totaled $169.5 million in January-April 2016, some $166.9 million of which falls to a share of imports from the UK. The United Kingdom is considered to be the largest foreign direct investor in Azerbaijan followed by the U.S. and Japan.
The United Kingdom recognized the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 26 December 1991. The diplomatic relations between two countries were established on 11 March 1992. The British Embassy was opened in Baku in September 1993 and the Azerbaijani Embassy in London in January 1994.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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