Azernews.Az

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday met businessmen from the MEDEF, Movement of the Enterprises of France, in Paris, as part of his working visit to France.

The president was welcomed by chairman of MEDEF International Jean Burrell.
He noted the event brought together nearly 60 businessmen from a number of companies.
Addressing the event, President Aliyev said previous meetings with businessmen from MEDEF contributed to establishing a strong economic partnership between leading Azerbaijani and French companies.

President Aliyev noted economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and France was developing rapidly, adding trade between the two countries had increased.
Aliyev noted economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and France would continue to diversify.

The President said the French leading energy companies Total and GDF Suez were Azerbaijan`s long-term partners.

"Azerbaijan is now working with its partners in ensuring European energy security," he said, stressing that Azerbaijan possesses large oil and gas reserves.

"Diversifying energy routes is a key priority for us, and our interests coincide with those of our European partners on this issue. Azerbaijan today is a reliable partner for Europe."

Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan supports involving French companies in TANAP gas pipeline project.

The President also spoke of Azerbaijan`s economic achievements.

Aliyev responded to questions from businessmen about economic processes in Azerbaijan, the country`s role in ensuring European energy security and implementation of various projects.

The President briefed the event participants on Azerbaijan`s economic priorities, activity of French companies in Azerbaijan, non-oil sector, the current state and further role of the country in the region and cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, healthcare, tourism, customs, information and communication.

The Mouvement des Entreprises de France or MEDEF is the largest union of employers in France. It has more than 800,000 member firms, 90% are from SME, with fewer than 50 employees. MEDEF is engaged in lobbying all decision-makers at the local, regional, national and European levels. Every year, MEDEF International organizes a number of delegations of French business leaders with concrete projects to targeted countries, especially developing countries.