Azernews.Az

By Araz Said

Azerbaijan intends to become an even more important transit connection between Europe and Central Asia, US Ambassador Richard Morningstar said in his speech at an American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) event last week.

Morningstar stressed the significant growth of Azerbaijan's economy in the past years and expressed interest in helping the country to diversify its economy well beyond the energy sector.

According to Morningstar, the country's economic statistics shows a lot of progress, however, there are still issues "we need to deal with and work together on".

The ambassador also expressed interest in drawing more US companies to Azerbaijan.

"I am very much interested in getting more American companies involved here. We are ready to work with the [local] companies to develop the economy," he said.

Morningstar also stressed Azerbaijan's tremendously important role in Afghanistan.
"We greatly appreciate the fact that Azerbaijan is committed to stay involved in Afghanistan beyond 2014," the ambassador added.

In his speech Morningstar also mentioned the importance of accession to the World Trade Organization for Azerbaijan.

Morningstar said Azerbaijan has to take steps to comply with the WTO requirements, which ultimately will be for a tremendous benefit for Azerbaijan's economy.

According to the ambassador, negotiations regarding an agreement on the opening of direct flights between the U.S. and Azerbaijan are expected to begin soon.

"We want to work with Azerbaijan, so, eventually, direct flights are likely to be opened. However, negotiations may take a couple of years," Morningstar said.

The US ambassador also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying that peace is the only answer to the long-standing conflict, and the United States will continue working with the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia to make progress in its settlement.

Morningstar told journalists that he would also work with the OSCE Minsk Group negotiators to achieve progress in the ongoing peace negotiations.

"I will work with our Minsk Group negotiators and with the government here to hopefully make progress with respect to the negotiations. We can never give up because peace is the only answer with respect to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.