Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan and Czech Republic discussed prospects for development of bilateral relations during the visit of Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek to Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by the Czech foreign minister on June 3.

The meeting discussed the development of cooperation between the two countries in various spheres, including the fields of mutual investment, education, culture, tourism, and so on.

The sides emphasized the great potential for a further development of bilateral relations and expressed their satisfaction with the fact that the relations had risen to an even higher level.

It was noted that the visit of Zaorálek to Baku provided a good opportunity for the discussion of issues related to the further expansion of ties.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov also met his Czech counterpart; after meeting the sides held a joint press conference.

During the meeting, Minister Zaorálek was informed on the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The meeting also focused on prospects for development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Czech Republic, as well as discussed strengthening the cooperation in the fields of education, tourism, economy, energy and transport.

Mammadyarov, speaking at the press conference, said some 220 Azerbaijani students are studying in the Czech Republic, adding that this number will increase in future.

Zaorálek, in turn, stressed that the Czech Republic is interested in development of cooperation with Azerbaijan in different fields, and invited the Czech businessmen to invest in Azerbaijan's economy. He also said that the Czech companies are keen on participation in the energy projects initiated by Azerbaijan.

"We would like to expand the cooperation in the spheres of education and tourism," the Czech minister said.

He also invited the Azerbaijani businessmen to make investments in the Czech economy.

"I'm accompanied by a large delegation of businessmen and they are showing interest in cooperation with Azerbaijan," he said, adding that Azerbaijan handed over the Czech side a package of proposals on cooperation in the energy sphere as well.

Elmar Mammadyarov, for his part, said fruitful negotiations have been held with his Czech counterpart in Baku and they touched upon the bilateral relations and international cooperation issues during the talks.

"We also discussed the economic relations, visa issues, the cooperation in the spheres of education, tourism and so on," the Azerbaijani minister said after the conference.

Mammadyarov underscored that the Azerbaijani students, studying in the Czech Republic, face difficulties in receiving visas, and added that his Czech counterpart promised to solve these problems.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister went on to add that the Czech Republic also showed interest in developing its economic relations with Azerbaijan.

After the Baku visit, Zaoralek will head to Georgia.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic amounted to $305.03 million in 2013, most of which ($215.92 million) fell to the imports of Azerbaijani goods, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.

The country imported goods worth $89.11 million from the Czech Republic in 2013. As of the first quarter of this year, the trade turnover between the two countries reached $86.58 million taking into account the exports worth $76.54 million from Azerbaijan to the Czech Republic and imports of Czech goods worth $10.04 million.