Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Malaysia sees Azerbaijan as a fast developing country in the region, Malaysian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ruslan Abdul Rahman said at a press conference on the 58th National Day of Malaysia on September 16.

He stressed that to further move and strengthen the cordial relationship between the two sides, both countries should endeavor to add more substance to the existing relationship, particularly in trade and investment.

”Until middle of 2015, total trade with Azerbaijan is $58.7 million which mainly came from manufactured goods,” he said.

Abdul Rahman said that Malaysian National Oil Company - PETRONAS acquired a 15.5 percent stake in the Shah Deniz production sharing agreement operated by a consortium of companies, 15.5 percent share in the South Caucasus Pipeline Company (SCPC), 15.5 percent share in the SCPC holding company, and 12.4 percent share in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company and the transaction value is $2.25 billion.

The ambassador also touched upon a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of training of diplomats and MoU between PETRONAS and State Oil Company of Azerbaijan SOCAR both signed in Baku last year to cover cooperation in the oil and gas sectors, hoping that the bilateral ties between the two countries will be further strengthened.

Malaysia and Azerbaijan share common positions in many international issues of mutual interest, according to the envoy.

”Malaysia, in line with the principles of Islamic solidarity, continues to support resolutions issued by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The OIC Foreign Ministers adopted a number of resolutions, which Malaysia strongly supports, related to Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan. We call upon the international community to work towards a just solution to this conflict,” he said.

Abdul Rahman went on saying that Malaysia also co-sponsored the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 62/243 entitled “The Situation in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan.” “It became the 5th UN document concerning Nagorno-Karabakh and the first UNGA document on it. Malaysia will continue to support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue until a just solution is found,” the ambassador stressed.

Malaysia enjoys close and friendly relations with Azerbaijan since diplomatic relations were established in 1993. Azerbaijan established its diplomatic mission in Malaysia in 2007, while Malaysia established its Embassy in Baku in 2014.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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