FM discusses cooperation between Azerbaijan, Poland
By Rashid Shirinov
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who is on a visit to Warsaw, has discussed the development of cooperation between the ports and railways of Azerbaijan and Poland as he met with Marek Gróbarczyk, Polish Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation on April 11.
Mammadyarov briefed the Polish side on the economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan, the Baku International Sea Trade Port and its potential, as well as large-scale projects envisaged in the near future in the field of logistics.
Baku International Sea Trade Port is expected to become one of the leading trade and logistics hubs of Eurasia. The completion of the first stage of its construction, projected to the late 2017, will allow the Port to increase its capacity up to 11.5 million tons of cargo and to 50,000 containers per year. Meanwhile, the implementation of the final third stage is projected to increase the capacity up to 25 million tons of freight and 1 million of containers.
Mammadyarov also talked about the transport projects implemented by the initiative and participation of Azerbaijan, in particular the economic advantages and future prospects of the East-West and North-South corridors, as well as the connectivity of the North-South railway to Poland’s ports.
Gróbarczyk, in turn, touched upon such issues as the shipbuilding and the development of fish farming industry and shared Poland’s experience in these fields.
He invited his Azerbaijani counterparts to Poland to promote the cooperation between the ports.
On the same day, Minister Mammadyarov met with the Andrzej Adamczyk, Minister of Infrastructure and Construction of Poland.
At the meeting, Adamczyk stated that Poland is interested in the East-West and North-South transport corridors and expressed his willingness to cooperate with Azerbaijani counterparts.
The sides noted the cooperation between Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR and Poland’s ORLEN and LOTOS oil companies and the ties between SOCAR and Przyjazn company of Poland within the Sarmatia International Pipeline Company.
The parties underlined the successful activities of Novol and more than 20 companies of Poland in Azerbaijan, especially in trade, industry, transport, service, construction, insurance, banking and other fields.
Minister Mammadyarov also met with the Head of the Polish Sejm Marek Kuchciński on April 11.
The Head of Sejm mentioned that he attaches special importance to the relations with Azerbaijan and in this regard noted the significance of development of inter-parliamentary cooperation.
Kuchciński noted that Poland supports the development of relations between Azerbaijan and European Union and signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
Mammadyarov, in turn, emphasized the successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and Poland within international organizations.
In addition, Mammadyarov informed his interlocutor about the negotiations process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and reiterated the demands of relevant four resolutions of the UN Security Council. He stressed it is important to exert international pressure on Armenia to ensure the withdrawal of its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
During the meeting, the sides highlighted that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev paid seven visits to Poland and all Polish Presidents have been in Baku.
Earlier, Mammadyarov met with his Polish counterpart Witold Waszczykowski. The ministers expressed satisfaction with the current state of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Poland and exchanged views on the expansion of cooperation in various fields.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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