Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

President Ilham Aliyev has invited Indonesian companies to be involved in the ongoing restoration work in Azerbaijan’s newly-liberated lands in the same speech where he thanked Jakarta for its continuous support for Baku during Armenia’s occupation.

Aliyev made the remarks while receiving the credentials of newly-appointed Indonesian ambassador Hildi Hamid on February 16.

Aliyev invited Indonesia to economic cooperation with Azerbaijan on the latter's territories liberated from Armenia's occupation in a 44-day war in 2020.

"After Azerbaijan liberated its territories and restored its territorial integrity, there are big opportunities for economic cooperation. Also, on the liberated lands, we want to see the Indonesian companies as our partners, as contractors to implement different projects which we plan, and demonstrate our unity. That’s our plan," the president said at a meeting with Hildi Hamid, after receiving his credentials.

He added that a lot is to be done to bring Azerbaijan and Indonesia closer on economic track.

"I am sure that we will see good progress during the time of your presence in Azerbaijan," the president said.

He stressed that the two countries have big potential to find very important areas of our partnership in the economic area.

"Strong political ties will, of course, be very helpful in expanding our cooperation to different spheres. On the political ground, we cooperate very successfully. We support each other in international organizations, in the United Nations. Of course, we coordinate our efforts in the Non-Aligned Movement and we are very grateful for the support Indonesia demonstrated to our initiatives in the Non-Aligned Movement," Aliyev said.

The president thanked particularly for Indonesia's continuous support to Azerbaijan during the years of Armenian occupation.

"Indonesia always joined supportive resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and also the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Non-Aligned Movement supporting the just cause of Azerbaijan. That was demonstrated throughout many years and it strengthened our position and strengthened the process of creation of a very solid legal base for settlement of the conflict. During the conflict, your government expressed support to Azerbaijan. We highly value that," the head of state added.

Aliyev reminded that the Indonesian Foreign Ministry had issued a statement in support of the fulfillment of the UN Security Council resolutions which demanded the immediate, unconditional and full withdrawal of Armenian occupational forces from the territories of Azerbaijan and expressed Azerbaijan's gratitude. He also thanked the Indonesian parliament for support.

The president added that Indonesia was among other NAM members expressing strong support for Azerbaijan's position during the war.

"As you know, some members of the Security Council wanted to start the process of adopting new resolutions and decisions. And actually, that was an attempt to stop us from just cause of liberation of the territories. And those attempts and wording of those planned steps did not embrace the reference to the Security Council resolutions which was adopted by the countries, members of the Security Council. So, Indonesia together with other friendly countries, NAM members actually blocked this attempt to stop us from the restoration of our territorial integrity, and we highly value that. We are grateful for that. This is a demonstration of solidarity, support and friendship. So, this is a political basis of our cooperation," Aliyev added.

Belarus

President Aliyev expressed Azerbaijan's intention to continue active cooperation with Belarus in various spheres in future as well.

"There will be a lot to be done because the agenda of our interstate relations is quite broad and covers many areas. In recent years, we have actively cooperated in both the political and economic spheres, as well as in the field of industrial cooperation. Of course, we intend to continue such active interaction," the president at a meeting after receiving the credentials of Andrei Ravkov.

Aliyev hailed the great potential and good dynamics in Azerbaijani-Belarus relations.

"Our frequent contacts are at the highest level and mutual visits, of course, have given a great impetus to the development of our relations, and we see good examples of cooperation. This also applies to trade. However, due to the pandemic, of course, there is a decline in GDP and trade in all countries. Nevertheless, I think we will recover from the pandemic quite soon," he said.

The head of state expressed optimism about the level of industrial cooperation.

"Industrial cooperation is an important area of cooperation. There are good examples of Belarusian-Azerbaijani joint ventures in Azerbaijan. We even access the markets of third countries together. I think additional steps will be taken in this direction," he said.

The president expressed confidence that during his tenure, the ambassador will actively contribute to the development of military cooperation.

"Military and technical cooperation, which has been successfully implemented for many years, is an important area. We interact to increase the potential of our military and technical cooperation, including the field of high technology. So the agenda is sufficiently broad. I am confident that during your stay in Azerbaijan you will actively deal with these issues to further increase the potential for interaction," Aliyev said.

He noted that the two countries will continue to support each other within international organizations, as was the case before.

"I am sure that such multilateral and multifaceted joint activities will continue to bring our countries closer together," the head of state said.

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