Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

President of Russia's Dagestan Republic Ramazan Abdulatipov met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on December 26. The two sides highlighted the need for boosting bilateral ties.

Abdulatipov, who leads a delegation, is on a working visit to Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, the Azerbaijani president noted the importance of the ties between Azerbaijan and Russian Federation's subjects for expanding bilateral relations between the two countries.

President Aliyev expressed confidence that the visit of Dagestan's president would contribute to the strengthening of the Azerbaijan-Russia bilateral ties, as well as the Azerbaijan-Dagestan friendly ties, which are deeply rooted in history and culture.

The Head of State also noted the visit provided a good opportunity to discuss the economic cooperation.

Abdulatipov, in turn, said Russian President Vladimir Putin finds it important to actively continue existing relations between Azerbaijan and Dagestan.

He noted they have paid respects to the Azerbaijani national leader Heydar Aliyev and prominent statesman Aziz Aliyev at the Alley of Honors, noting the new Alley and a park in memory of Heydar Aliyev will be built in Derbent.

Abdulatipov went on to note that Dagestan's efforts to perpetuate the memory of Heydar Aliyev were hailed in Azerbaijan.

President Aliyev also said Azerbaijani people describe it as an embodiment of the respect to the national leader who contributed to the strengthening of the bilateral relations, as well as friendly and fraternal ties between the two countries.

He also recalled that part of life and career of prominent statesman Aziz Aliyev was associated with Dagestan.

Then, President Aliyev and President Abdulatipov had a joint dinner.

As part of the visit, Abdulatipov also met with Parliamentary Speaker Ogtay Asadov.

The speaker hailed the Azerbaijan-Dagestan relations. He said Azerbaijan enjoyed rapidly developing relations based on the friendship and neighborhood with the Russian Federation, as well as the Dagestan Republic.

Speaking about the Azerbaijani-Russian ties, Asadov praised the bonds between the two countries` legislative bodies. He expressed confidence that friendly, neighborhood and cooperation traditions, which unite the two nations, would continue to strengthen.

In turn, Abdulatipov also highlighted the bilateral Azerbaijan-Russia relations, as well as friendly relationship between Azerbaijan and Dagestan.

He expressed confidence that reciprocal visits would contribute to strengthening the bilateral ties even further.

Abdulatipov also visited the sightseeing places of Azerbaijan's capital Baku, the pearl of the Caspian Sea.

He paid visit to the National Flag Square and the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

Azerbaijan and Russia have an extensive legal framework with more than 30 economic documents already signed.

Trade turnover between the two countries reached $3.4 billion in 2012.

Azerbaijan has invested about $563 million in Russia's economy over the past ten years. At present, 479 companies with Russian capital operate in Azerbaijan, and around $468 million has been recently invested by the Russian side in Azerbaijan's economy.

Currently, 72 out of 83 regions of the Russian Federation have been involved in foreign trade with Azerbaijan, and visits, business forums, and business meetings are being organized to expand bilateral relations further.

Some 13 business forums, business meetings, and exhibitions have been conducted with Russia's entities over the last three years, contributing to the expansion of relations between Azerbaijan and the Russian regions.