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Azerbaijan, Belarus FMs mull future bilateral ties

16 May 2020 13:05 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan, Belarus FMs mull future bilateral ties

By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov talked with his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei about the future perspectives of bilateral relations between the two countries, Foreign Ministry reported on May 13.

During the telephone conversation, the ministers noted with satisfaction the high-level political relations between the two states.

Thus, the sides discussed the issues of interaction and realization of common projects in spheres of transport, logistics, and energy. In this regard, the foreign ministers also touched upon the importance of maintaining and further developing trade and economic relations, despite the pandemic.

Furthermore, the sides highlighted the cooperation and joint actions within the international organizations, including the UN, CIS, as well as the relations with the European Union, including those within the Eastern Partnership Framework.

In the meantime, “touching upon the current global situation, the ministers exchanged views on measures taken by the states to fight global COVID19 and emphasized the importance of international solidarity in this regard”, the report said.

The agenda of future bilateral contacts on different levels was touched upon by the ministers.

In the end, Azerbaijani and Belarusian Foreign Ministers agreed to continue the future bilateral contacts after the lift of all restrictions connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, on April 30, The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has sent 3.83 million barrels of oil to Belarus since the beginning of 2020. Since the start of the year, SOCAR sent 2.05 million barrels of Azerbaijani and 1.78 million barrels of non-Azerbaijani oil to Belarus.

Today, a legal and organizational framework exists that allows the implementation of joint projects between the two countries. The Agreement on Investment Promotion and Mutual Protection between Belarus and Azerbaijan came into force in 2011, which accelerated the bilateral economic cooperation.

In October 2019, Azerbaijani and Belarusian Defense Ministers inked a plan of bilateral cooperation for 2020 between Azerbaijan and Belarus, which provides for the organization of mutual visits of expert groups, the holding of joint combat training events, as well as exchange of best practices and other important issues.

In 2018, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Belarus was about $204 million, which is approximately $56 million more than the figure of 2017. The volume of trade between Azerbaijan and Belarus reached $60 million in January-February this year. Imports from Belarus to Azerbaijan amounted to $55.9 million, while the volume of exports from Azerbaijan to Belarus was $3.3 million.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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