Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's talks with the French President, senior officials of energy companies and entrepreneurs from the MEDEF business chamber during his four-day working visit to France last week showed the high level of cooperation between the two countries.

President Aliyev, in his meeting with businessmen from MEDEF, Movement of the Enterprises of France, on Wednesday in Paris, said economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and France was developing rapidly, adding that bilateral trade had increased.

Aliyev said previous meetings with MEDEF businessmen had contributed to establishing a strong economic partnership between leading Azerbaijani and French companies.

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 percent 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 nations.

Aliyev expressed confidence that economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and France would continue to diversify.

"Azerbaijan is now working with its partners on ensuring European energy security," he said, stressing that his country 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 the Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline project (TANAP), planned to carry Azerbaijani gas across Turkey to Europe.

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

On September 17, the first day of his visit, President Aliyev met with top officials of a number of energy companies.

Aliyev met Chairman of the Board and CEO of French utility GDF Suez, Gerard Mestrallet, in Paris.

The parties exchanged views on the prospects for closer relations between Azerbaijan and GDF Suez, cooperation on developing the Absheron offshore gas field, as well as the issue of supplying the Azerbaijani population with world-standard drinking water.

Then, the Azerbaijani President met French oil services group Technip's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Onshore/Offshore, Philippe Barril.

They stressed Technip`s successful operation in Azerbaijan`s oil and gas sector, as well as the company's role in the development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea and the realization of other projects.

On the same day Aliyev met Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total Christophe de Margerie.

They discussed cooperation in tapping the Absheron and Shah Deniz gas fields and implementing pipeline projects, as well as prospects for developing bilateral relations.

Presidents' meeting

President Aliyev held talks with his French counterpart Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris on September 18, Azerbaijan's state news agency AzerTAc reported.

During their meeting, the two presidents discussed cooperation between Azerbaijan and France in various fields. They stressed that these relations are successfully developing in the fields of politics, economics and culture.

Presidents Aliyev and Hollande noted the great role of French companies in Azerbaijan's economy.

The two leaders stressed the importance of French investment in Azerbaijan, saying the two countries had good prospects for cooperation in this area.

They also discussed the current state of negotiations to settle the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as steps that must be taken to reach a solution.

On the same day, President Aliyev met former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

During the meeting, they noted that relations between Azerbaijan and France were successfully developing in a variety of fields.

They expressed confidence that cooperation between the two countries would continue to expand.

Cultural center opening

President Aliyev attended the opening of the Azerbaijani Cultural Center in Paris on September 19.

The Cultural Center was established with support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijani embassy in Paris.

The Azerbaijani President and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the Center, located near the Eiffel Tower.

The Center is of great importance for promoting the country's culture internationally. It will help to popularize Azerbaijan as a front-runner in inter-cultural and inter-civilization dialogue.

With samples of the abundant culture and history of Azerbaijan, it embodies the ancient cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan that is reflected in the cultural life of Paris.

Speaking at a reception dedicated to the opening of the Center, President Aliyev said French-Azerbaijani relations are developing successfully and rapidly.

Aliyev said France is the second biggest trade partner of Azerbaijan, and bilateral trade increases year-on-year.

He emphasized the efforts of the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, head of the Azerbaijan-France inter-parliamentary friendship group, Mehriban Aliyeva, in promoting French-Azerbaijani cultural relations. At her initiative, various projects have been implemented in Strasbourg, Versailles, province of Normandy, to preserve the cultural heritage of France.

Initiated by Mehriban Aliyeva, concerts and exhibitions of Azerbaijani artists have been held in France. Last year, the groundbreaking of a French lyceum in Baku took place. Baku also hosted the grand exhibition "Plaisirs de France". The launch of the Azerbaijani Cultural Center in Paris was made possible on the initiative of the First Lady. The French government appreciated her work and awarded her the Legion of Honor Order.

On September 18, Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva and President Francois Hollande attended the opening of Islamic art exhibition halls at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

In his opening speech Hollande thanked President Aliyev and other partners for their support to the project on opening the new halls.

The French president emphasized that the project will contribute to the dialogue among civilizations, as well as to better understanding of the East and will be an opportunity to define the similarities between Europe and Islamic culture.