Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith made statements to the media on Oct. 13.
“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports that the Azerbaijani president spoke first.
Statement by President Ilham Aliyev
— Dear Mr. President, dear guests, ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, Mr. President, I would like to welcome you to Azerbaijan once again. You are very welcome.
This is not our first meeting. We have met several times on the sidelines of international events, and I invited you to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan. I am very grateful and pleased that you accepted my invitation and are visiting Azerbaijan today. I am confident that this visit will have a very positive impact on our bilateral relations and further deepen our cooperation.
Today, during our one-on-one and expanded meetings, we discussed many important issues and identified specific steps. The Joint Statement adopted today sets out our future cooperation and defines its main areas.
As for political relations, they have been developing successfully for many years. We have had diplomatic relations for more than 30 years, and throughout this period we have consistently demonstrated solidarity and mutual support within many international organizations. This remains the case today, and I am confident it will continue to be so.
Interparliamentary relations are also developing. Friendship groups have been established in both countries, which is itself an indication of our successful cooperation in this area, both in international parliamentary organizations and bilaterally. Our ruling parties also cooperate closely, and a relevant memorandum of understanding was signed several years ago.
In other words, relations at the political level are developing very successfully. We would like to see the same progress in the economic sphere. During today’s exchange of views, both sides agreed that our current trade turnover reflects neither our potential nor our intentions.
Accordingly, instructions were given to intensify cooperation in the economy, including trade. I hope the Laos-Azerbaijan business forum to be held in Baku will be an important step in this direction. It will facilitate the exchange of information. I also told the President that if Laos presents specific projects to Azerbaijani investors, we would consider them with great interest.
Azerbaijan’s investments abroad are expanding year by year. Both the financial scale and the geographical reach of our investments are growing. Investments worth billions of dollars demonstrate our capabilities and bring significant benefits to partner countries. They create new jobs and establish new production facilities.
We intend to take the same approach in our bilateral relations, provided that specific projects are presented to us.
During our discussions, it was noted that more than 2,000 Lao students studied in Azerbaijan during the Soviet era. I proposed that we revive this tradition. A scholarship mechanism has also been proposed, and I am confident that more Lao students will study in Azerbaijan in the coming years.
Unfortunately, we are also united by a serious problem: landmines. The President told me that although several decades have passed since their war, people there continue to suffer from mines and lose their lives and health. I noted that more than 1 million mines were laid in our territory as a result of Armenia’s occupation, and over the past five or six years more than 400 Azerbaijanis have been killed or seriously injured. I believe that exchanging experience could be useful in this area, as could the introduction of new technologies and training.
Connectivity and transport were also among the issues we discussed. The President said that railway connection projects with neighboring countries are being implemented and that, once completed, they could link directly to the Trans-Caspian transport route.
I, in turn, noted that all major transport and logistics projects in Azerbaijan have already been implemented. We are now focused on identifying new cargo sources, mobilizing shipments from new destinations and increasing freight volumes. I hope that once all these projects underway on both sides are completed, cargo volumes will also rise.
We also discussed opportunities for cooperation in energy, mining, agriculture and other sectors. The shared view is that concrete steps can produce results in each of these areas. We have the necessary opportunities and, most importantly, the mutual will.
Laos is a friendly country for us. As I have said, our diplomatic relations, which have lasted for more than 30 years, have demonstrated this on many occasions. The President’s official visit to Azerbaijan and his planned participation in the summit on the 15th are further evidence of this. I should also note that the President told me he had visited Azerbaijan in the 1980s, but this is the first official visit to Azerbaijan by a Lao president.
Mr. President, I once again thank you for your visit and extend my best wishes. Thank you.
x x x
The Lao president then made a statement.
Statement by President Thongloun Sisoulith
— President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, thank you very much. It is a great honor for me to meet with representatives of the Azerbaijani media here today. Thank you for your kind words. Your statement was comprehensive and covered everything we discussed in our one-on-one and expanded meetings today, including ways to broaden the traditional friendly relations and cooperation between our countries and extend them to more areas in the future.
His Excellency the President received me very warmly today. I would like to emphasize that cooperation and exchanges between our countries and peoples did not begin only in recent years. They are rooted in longstanding ties. In the past, we welcomed your former president, Heydar Aliyev, to our country. At the time, Heydar Aliyev visited Laos as First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and a member of the Politburo. He attended the fourth congress of our party in 1986. We have very fond memories of Heydar Aliyev’s impressive speech and statement at the fourth congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, which made a strong impression on the Lao people. Today, I would like to express my sincere thanks once again to His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev, the son of the president who laid the foundations for good relations with our people. President Ilham Aliyev is continuing those traditional ties. The son of President Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s current president, is sitting face to face with Laos Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane, who is also the son of Laos’s beloved former president, Kaysone Phomvihane. This reflects the elevation of our relations and the positive results of my official visit today. I fully share your recollections of our meetings.
President Ilham Aliyev also emphasized that our traditionally positive bilateral relations should be reassessed and that cooperation should be expanded beyond parliamentary and political ties. We should explore additional opportunities in the economy, trade, investment, people-to-people exchanges, tourism and human resource development, so that Laos can gain access to these areas.
I truly believe this official visit will enable us to task the relevant agencies in our countries with discussing in greater detail the results of the talks held at the level of our heads of state. We signed several documents here, including a Joint Statement, which carries symbolic significance for our cooperation. We are confident that Azerbaijani businesspeople will invest more in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in the future. Trade and tourism will grow, as will cultural exchanges. I am very pleased that His Excellency said more Lao students would be welcomed in the Republic of Azerbaijan in the future. It will also be extremely beneficial for future generations to revisit the restoration of scholarships and support for the many students who studied here in the past.
We will also continue exploring and discussing many other areas. During this official visit, we will have an opportunity to meet with the speaker of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis (National Assembly). We will encourage continued cooperation between the legislative bodies of our countries. Of course, our governments will be the main driving force in implementing the agreements reached at today’s meetings. I will also meet with Azerbaijan’s prime minister and propose continued cooperation in relevant areas. I will send more ministers who can play an important role in expanding cooperation in investment, education, energy and other areas of interest to Azerbaijan, so that detailed discussions can continue and our cooperation can be implemented in the future.
Once again, I would like to thank His Excellency the President of Azerbaijan, the government and the people for the warm welcome extended to me and my delegation. You are very hospitable; this reflects our brotherhood and friendship. I was in Baku 44 years ago. Today, I am here again. I have witnessed the rapid development of Baku and Azerbaijan. Everything is new to me. I could barely recognize the Azerbaijan I visited 44 years ago. Nevertheless, the Azerbaijani people have preserved the kindness characteristic of their culture and traditions. The people of Azerbaijan remain as wonderful as they were then. This has left an extremely positive impression on me.
Mr. President, thank you once again.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith made statements to the media on Oct. 13.
An Operative Information Center-OMM correspondent reported this.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith are making statements to the media.
An Operative Information Center-OMM correspondent reported this.
