Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 19 November (BelTA) – Transportation sector will be among the driving forces behind Belarus-Azerbaijan cooperation, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said during an expanded-participation meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on 19 November, BelTA has learned.

In his words, all areas of bilateral cooperation produce good results, and each meeting of the two leaders gives an impetus to bilateral cooperation and helps implement joint projects.

“I think that transportation sector will be one of areas of focus in our future cooperation. You have mentioned the North-South Transport Corridor. Azerbaijan has already completed all the works related to the operation of this corridor on its territory. We keep upgrading our transport infrastructure and it is already able to handle substantial amount of cargo,” Ilham Aliyev said.

He noted that Azerbaijan is an active participant of the East-West Transport Corridor. According to him, coordination of efforts on these two routes will give rise to new cooperation opportunities and will help create tens of thousands of new jobs and significantly increase cargo flow between the countries.

“There are some exceptionally good results in cooperation in the manufacturing industry. However, we are determined to strive for more, because there is a lot we can do,” Ilham Aliyev said.

He also spoke about Belarus-Azerbaijan interaction on the international arena, which is always very effective and predictable. “We always uphold each other. Mutual support in international matters is a good demonstration of sincerity in our relations,” he said.

“We also pay much attention to cooperation in agriculture, education and science. It is easier to name the areas where we do not cooperate actively, rather than areas where we demonstrate good results,” Ilham Aliyev said. What matters most is that Belarus-Azerbaijan relations are based on mutual support, respect and a high level of trust, the head of state emphasized.

“Our relations are a good example of sincerity and cooperation between countries. We actively cooperate across all the matters and never fail to fulfill our decisions,” Ilham Aliyev said.