Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijani Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Valeh Alasgarov met with members of the Thailand-Azerbaijan interparliamentary friendship group on December 5.

Addressing the meeting, Alasgarov said Azerbaijan develops in all fields and has become the leader state of the region in a short period of time. He also said Azerbaijan turned into the investor country, adding that it is one of the rapidly developing countries.

Alasgarov also spoke on the Azerbaijan-Thailand relations, saying the political-economic ties between the two countries are developing successfully. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Thailand amounted to about $1.5 billion last year, he noted.

The deputy speaker said there is a great potential for expansion of bilateral relations between the two countries in all spheres.

Touching upon the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Alasgarov said as a result of the Armenian aggression about 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories were occupied and more than 1 million people became refugees and IDPs.

Head of the Thailand-Azerbaijan interparliamentary friendship group Viroon Phuensaen, in turn, praised the ongoing development processes in Azerbaijan. He also hailed the hospitality of the Azerbaijani people and said that his country is interested in further development of cooperation with Azerbaijan. Phuensaen said Thailand is an important consumer of Azerbaijani oil and gas.

Speaking on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Phuensaen said Thailand supports only Azerbaijan's position.

After the meeting head of the Thailand-Azerbaijan interparliamentary friendship group Rauf Aliyev said relations between the two countries are at a high level and inter-parliamentary relations play an important role in their future development.

Aliyev said it is planned to sign an agreement to strengthen relations between the legislative bodies of Azerbaijan and Thailand. Moreover, reciprocal visits of delegations are scheduled to develop tourism between the two countries.

The visit of Thai parliamentary delegation consisting of two senators and five parliamentarians, will play an important role in a number of issues of mutual interest, he added.

"These visits will give an impetus to further proximity between our countries and peoples," he said. "For example, holding in Thailand Cultural Days of Azerbaijan and the Days of Thai Culture in Azerbaijan was discussed. A great interest in our kitchen is shown. Probably, work in this direction will be done. Cooperation in the sphere of tourism were mulled and necessity of organizing mutual visits was emphasized."

The diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Thailand were established in July, 1992.