Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan and Tatarstan have mulled development of cooperation in various fields during a visit of Tatarstan’s president to Baku.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Tatarstan’s President Rustam Minnikhanov on April 14, AzerTag news agency reported.

Stressing that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Russia and its federal subjects were at a high level, President Aliyev stressed the importance of the visit of the delegation led by President Minnikhanov in terms of the expansion of such ties.

President Aliyev said there were good opportunities for boosting cooperation in various areas, including implementation of joint projects and investment making.

President Minnikhanov, for his part, said he and his delegation were deeply impressed with the development process in Azerbaijan, especially the landscaping and reconstruction work in Baku since his last visit.

He congratulated the Azerbaijani president on such great accomplishments. The president said he was accompanied by a large entourage, adding members of his delegation already held several fruitful meetings with their Azerbaijani counterparts.

President Minnikhanov further added that during his meeting with the Tatar community in Azerbaijan, members of the community said tolerance in the country helped create comprehensive conditions for a prosperous life.

The parties exchanged views on issues related to prospects of cooperation in machine engineering, petroleum engineering, information technologies, tourism and other fields.

Earlier, in the day, Tatar president also met Artur Rasizade, Azerbaijan’s prime minister.

Rasizade highlighted the developing relations between Azerbaijan and Tatarstan, noting the visit of the Tatar delegation would contribute to expanding bilateral and beneficial cooperation.

Speaking on cooperation opportunities with Tatarstan in the fields of oil-chemistry, machine engineering, agriculture, producing home alliances, food industry, Rasizade noted the progress achieved over the last period after signing the agreement between Ganja Auto Plant and KamAZ Open Joint Stock Company.

Minnikhanov, in turn, said Tatarstan appreciated the achievements Azerbaijan gained over the last years.

He said Tatarstan, a reliable partner in the Southern Caucasus, was interested in close relations with Azerbaijan, adding that as part of the visit they would hold consultations on development of relations in economic, trade, cultural, social fields.

The sides had comprehensive exchange of views on several aspects of beneficial cooperation.

During the visit, President Minnikhanov also attended the Azerbaijani-Russian business forum.

Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijan’s minister of economy and industry said at the forum that the two countries have the opportunity to expand cooperation in such areas as petroleum engineering, petro-chemistry, pharmaceutics, information and communication technologies, as well as tourism.

He stressed the successful development of relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as with the entities of the Russian Federation.

Mustafayev underlined that Azerbaijan and Tatarstan, sharing similar religion, as well as cultural and traditional ties continue to successfully cooperate in various fields.

He further added that commissioning of the KAMAZ car assembly conveyor, to be held at the Ganja auto plant, testifies to the successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and Tatarstan.

While addressing the forum, Ravil Zaripov, Tatarstan’s deputy prime minister and economy and industry minister expressed interest in further developing relations between Azerbaijan and Tatarstan.

Russia ranks fourth in the list of foreign trade partners of Azerbaijan, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia for the first two months of 2015 amounted to $304.3 million, which is 19.4 percent more than in 2014. Russia ranks second in total imports of Azerbaijan among importing countries with a 14.91 percent share.

--

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz