Azerbaijan, Iraqi leaders discuss cooperation PHOTO

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his counterpart Abdullatif Jamal Rashid have discussed multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

Firstly, an official welcome ceremony was held for Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid, who is on an official visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azertag reports.

Following the official welcoming ceremony, President Aliyev held a one-on-one meeting with Iraqi counterpart Abdullatif Jamal Rashid.

The head of state recalled the Iraqi President’s visit to Azerbaijan and the meeting they held on the sidelines of the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Expressing satisfaction with the Iraqi President’s first official visit to Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said he is confident that this visit and the discussions to be held during the visit would make a significant contribution to further development of relations between the two countries.

The head of state said that the meeting of the Joint Commission on Economic, Trade, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation would be held in Iraq soon, adding that it would play an important role in further expanding economic and trade relations.

The President of Iraq underlined his country’s determination to further develop relations with Azerbaijan, noting that the documents to be signed as part of the visit will significantly contribute to the expansion of ties.

During the meeting, the sides emphasized that both countries always supported each other's positions within international organizations. They noted that Azerbaijan and Iraq had suffered from occupation, but this situation had become history.

During the conversation, the Presidents pointed out that there are favorable opportunities for the development of cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, energy, culture, science, education and tourism.

After the one-on-one meeting, the leaders held an expanded meeting with President of the Republic of Iraq Abdullatif Jamal Rashid.

Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Mr. President, distinguished guests, welcome to Azerbaijan once again.

We already had a very good discussion with Mr. President on various issues related to our cooperation and political developments in our regions. We will now continue the discussion of important issues with the participation of delegations. Next month, our delegation will be visiting Iraq to participate in the meeting of the joint economic commission. We have already partially discussed the issues related to our trade, economic and energy agenda.

First of all, we are very happy to welcome Mr. President on an official visit to Azerbaijan. This is a very significant event in the history of our bilateral relations. This is the first official visit of the President of Iraq to Azerbaijan since Azerbaijan became an independent country. I am sure that the visit will produce very good results. Now we will continue the discussion of important issues related to economic and commercial cooperation. I am sure that this will also contribute positively to the good results of the meeting in Baghdad next month. Welcome again, Mr. President.

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President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid said:

- Thank you, Mr. President, it is always nice to see you. It is very good to seek your advice on the strengthening of our relations, trade, political as well as international affairs. We are very determined to further strengthen the relations between our two countries. We look forward to welcoming your delegation next month, and I hope its visit will be very productive. All visits to Azerbaijan are proving effective. Today, our delegations are ready to sign some memorandums of understanding between the two countries.

Later, a ceremony of signing documents was held with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev and his Iraqi counterpart Abdullatif Jamal Rashid.

Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sahil Babayev and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Iraq Ahmed Jassem Saber Al-Asadi signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Iraq”.

Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Fuad Naghiyev and Chairman of the Tourism Authority of the Republic of Iraq Zafer Mahdi signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of tourism between the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities of the Republic of Iraq”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Uloom signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq”.

Minister of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev and Head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Iraq Imad Al-Asadi signed the “Air Services Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Republic of Iraq”.