Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijan and Italy hold successful cooperation both in bilateral format and within international organizations. High-level reciprocal visits and intensive political dialogue contribute to the development of strategic partnership ties between the two countries.

A delegation of the Azerbaijani Parliament, under the leadership of the Speaker Ogtay Asadov, has visited Italy. The delegation included the Head of the Working Group on interparliamentary relations with Italy Azer Karimli, MPs Ulviyya Aghayeva, Vahid Ahmadov, Elshad Hasanov, head of the Parliament's Office Safa Mirzayev and other officials.

As part of the visit, the delegation met with the leadership of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian parliament, as well as representatives of the Azerbaijan-Italy Friendship Group.

During the meeting with the President of the Senate Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, Ogtay Asadov stressed the importance of the recent official visit of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva to Italy.

The speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament said that so far, 44 documents have been signed between the two countries, the most important of which is the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy.

He recalled that Italy is the largest trade partner of Azerbaijan and presently, there are up to 50 Italian companies operating in the country.

Asadov went on to add that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation plays a big role in strengthening political and cultural ties between the countries.

Casellati, in turn, noted that Italy highly appreciates the projects implemented by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the cultural and humanitarian fields, including the restoration of historical monuments in Italy.

She also emphasized that Italian companies successfully participate in a number of economic projects in Azerbaijan, including the transport, agricultural, infrastructure sectors, defense industry, etc.

The president of Senate highly appreciated the role of Azerbaijan in the energy security of Europe, including Italy, stressing that the Southern Gas Corridor will serve to further expand economic cooperation between the two countries.

Within the framework of the visit, Asadov also met in Rome with the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy's Parliament Roberto Fico. During the conversation, the speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament especially noted the official visits of President Ilham Aliyev to Italy in 2005, 2008 and 2014 and working visits in 2011 and 2015.

Touching upon the cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Italy, Asadov said that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation is carrying out exceptional work in strengthening political and cultural ties. In his words, the projects implemented in Italy by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation under the leadership of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva make a special contribution to cooperation between the two countries in the humanitarian sphere.

Asadov also stressed that during last year’s official visit to Italy, Azerbaijan's First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva took part in the opening ceremony of the St. Sebastian’s Catacombs, restored by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. He noted that Azerbaijan is interested in deepening relations with the EU and works closely with European institutions.

As part of the visit, Azerbaijani delegation also met with the members of Azerbaijan-Italy Friendship Group and the Italy-Azerbaijan Friendship Association at the Italian Parliament in Rome. At the meeting, it was noted that Italy is the most important trade partner of Azerbaijan, and the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $6.22 billion in 2018, which accounts for 20.11 percent of Azerbaijan’s total foreign trade.

Diplomatic relations between the two states were established in 1992. Italy is a reliable partner of Azerbaijan in Europe with whom bilateral beneficial cooperation exists in all areas. Both states enjoy high level of economic cooperation and intend to intensify ties as the relations in the economic sphere bring real benefits to both sides.

Accompanied by a solid consolidation of the political dialogue, bilateral economic relations have further strengthened following the signing of the Joint Declaration for the establishment of an Italian-Azerbaijani Council for Economic, Industrial and Financial in 2004.

Baku and Rome are strategic partners in the energy sector. Since 1995, the Italian company Eni has been involved in several projects on the operation of oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan, which laid the foundation for economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy. Since 1999, Italy has begun to receive a large part of Azerbaijani oil exported through the Baku-Supsa pipeline and then through Baku-Jeyhan.

Moreover, Italy supports the development of the Shah Deniz 2 field, with further export of the natural gas from the field to Europe via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP).

Two countries have great potential for expanding economic relations, in particular in such areas as energy, agriculture, industry, trade, investment, transport and environment.

In total, the investments of Italian companies in Azerbaijan have amounted to about $530 million, and the volume of Azerbaijani investments in Italy made up at $135 million.

Presently, Azerbaijan and Italy are preparing a new agreement on the promotion and protection of mutual investments between the countries.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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