Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia discuss prospects for co-op
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has met with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King of Saudi Arabia Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The head of state and First Lady, Mehriban Aliyeva arrived in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for an official visit on April 5.
King Salman welcomed President Aliyev to his country, and expressed
confidence that the official visit will be a success.
The parties expressed satisfaction with the level of bilateral
relations between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, and emphasized the
importance of the visit in terms of cooperation development.
The significance of developing mutual understanding and fruitful cooperation between Islamic countries was underlined at the meeting.
The sides also noted the fact that the two countries were actively cooperating and supporting each other in international organizations. Prospects for expanding cooperation in the fields of economy, particularly oil and gas, tourism, agriculture as well as between business communities were discussed.
The parties also exchanged views over potential future mutual
investments.
Saudi Arabia voiced support to peaceful settlement of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity.
Moreover, Aliyev met with Chairman of the Council of Saudi
Chambers, Abdulrahman Al Zamil. They emphasized the importance of
reciprocal visits between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, and noted
that there was good potential for expansion in cooperation.
The sides discussed joint production of petrochemical, oil and gas,
agricultural goods, as well as opportunities for exporting them to
Saudi Arabia and third countries. The parties discussed the issue
of studying opportunities of cooperation through organizing
meetings between Azerbaijani and Saudi Arabian petrochemical
companies.
At the meeting with Saudi Petroleum and Mineral Resources
Minister Ali Al-Naimi, the parties hailed both countries bilateral
relations. It was noted that the visit of the Azerbaijani president
to Saudi Arabia would considerably contribute to the expansion of
these ties.
The sides discussed oil prices on global markets, noting good
opportunities for Saudi Arabian companies in Azerbaijan both as
contractors and investors.
The parties also considered the implementation of experience and
information exchange on various issues, as well as Southern Gas
Corridor project.
President Aliyev also met Saudi Minister of Finance Ibrahim
Al-Assaf.
The sides noted that political relations and successful cooperation
in international organizations opened good opportunities for the
implementation of various projects in the fields of economy,
infrastructure, etc.
They highlighted that the two countries were implementing different projects in the areas of road construction, water supply and others. The parties discussed realization of different projects in social area, irrigation, agriculture, sewerage and other fields.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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