Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and France have discussed ways of developing the bilateral cooperation as Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with a delegation led by Jean-Vincent Place, French Minister of State for State Reform and Simplification, attached to the Prime Minister, member of the government, President of the Senate's Ecologist parliamentary group in Baku on February 9.

The ministers had an exchange of views on the current level of relationship and ways of advancing the bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and France.

Expressing satisfaction with his first visit to Azerbaijan, the French minister said that the goal of the visit is to get acquainted with the e-government and operative and transparent service system being successfully implemented in Azerbaijan in the framework of Open Government Partnership.

He added that the delegation held meetings in a number of government bodies of Azerbaijan for this purpose.

Minister Mammadyarov informed about the measures implemented in the country on the improvement of the e- government, increasing of transparency in service sector in the framework of Open Government Partnership.

Talking about the effective activity of “ASAN Service” model established in Azerbaijan in this regard, he emphasized that a number of countries show particular interest in this model.

The sides underscored the development of the bilateral cooperation in all fields, particularly economy, energy and culture. They noted the successful activities of French companies, especially “Total” in Azerbaijan.

The sides also expressed their conviction that the newly established French-Azerbaijani University in Baku will contribute to the expansion of cultural relations between the two countries.

The Azerbaijani minister also informed his counterpart about the latest status on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He stressed that as one of the Minsk Group co-chair countries, France has also to redouble its efforts in the settlement of the conflict.

During the meeting, they also discussed other issues of mutual concern.

Earlier, the French delegation was received by President Ilham Aliyev. Then, the sides highlighted the successful activity of “Asan xidmət” service and cooperation opportunities in this area.

ASAN Service center was created by the presidential decree in 2012. The Service which already has 11 centers across the country provides venues for state agencies to render their services in a uniformed and coordinated manner.

The service could reduce extra expenses and loss of time for many citizens, upgrade the level of professionalism, ensure a larger use of electronic services and increase transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption.

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

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