Ethiopian parliamentary speaker commends Azerbaijan’s reforms, peace progress PHOTO

The Speaker of Azerbaijan's National Assembly, Sahiba Gafarova, discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation across a range of sectors during her meeting with the Speaker of Ethiopia's House of Federation, Agenehu Teshager, on July 29 as part of her official visit to the East African country. Among the many issues discussed were the state of the Azerbaijani "ASAN Service" model's implementation in the country, the security dynamic in the South Caucasus and interparliamentary issues. 

The meeting served as an opportunity to discuss Ethiopia's interest in further expanding relations with Azerbaijan in trade, investment and tourism, as Caliber.Az reports referring to press briefings published by the Azerbaijani government structure, which is also referred to as Milli Majlis.

Teshager also noted the developing security dynamic in the South Caucasus, stating that he viewed the initialling of the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia as a success for Azerbaijan, adding that Baku's development and achievements are being closely followed in friendly Ethiopia.

He also praised the implementation of Azerbaijan's one-window "ASAN Service" service model for public services in Ethiopia and the technical assistance provided by Baku in introducing the system. According to Teshager, the model has already been implemented in Ethiopia's regions, improving the efficiency of public service delivery.

Commending Azerbaijan for its successful hosting of COP29, the Ethiopian parliamentary speaker noted that Ethiopia will host COP32 in 2027 and intends to draw on Azerbaijan's experience in preparing for the global climate conference.

The Ethiopian side noted that Azerbaijan's achievements in the tourism sector serve as a successful model for Ethiopia.

For her part, Gafarova expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality, congratulated Ethiopia on the significant progress it has achieved in recent years and noted that relations between the two countries are at a high level, with considerable potential for further expansion.

Another important aspect that the meeting focused on was interparliamentary cooperation. The two sides highlighted the contribution of reciprocal visits by parliamentary speakers and friendship groups to strengthening ties between the legislative bodies. They also discussed opportunities for closer cooperation between parliamentary committees, friendship groups and parliamentary administrations.

Teshager praised Azerbaijan's active parliamentary diplomacy and its strong representation in numerous international parliamentary organisations. Gafarova, in turn, emphasised the importance of expanding cooperation within such multilateral parliamentary platforms.

The Ethiopian parliamentary speaker noted that Gafarova's visit comes at a defining point in time for the East African country, after which he briefed the Azerbaijani delegation on Ethiopia's recently held seventh parliamentary elections and their outcome.

According to the Azerbaijani parliament's press body, other issues of mutual interest were also touched upon.

By Nazrin Sadigova