Georgia, Azerbaijan discuss good-neighbourly relations

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has met with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev within his two-day official visit to Azerbaijan, which started earlier today.

In the face-to-face meeting at Zagulba Presidential Palace in Baku, the two leaders discussed the good-neighbourly relations and strategic cooperation between the two countries.

The Georgian PM’s press service said particular attention was paid to regional security and energy security issues. The leaders expressed their desire for Georgia and Azerbaijan to enhance political, economic, cultural and energy cooperation.

The Georgian PM said after the meeting the parties mentioned more Azerbaijani companies had expressed their desire to invest in Georgia.

"Georgia is a reliable partner for Azerbaijan. We are strategic partners," Garibashvili said.

After the meeting, Aliyev met with the Georgian delegation in an expanded format, in which the parties discussed the projects Georgia and Azerbaijan had jointly implement. The discussion focused on ongoing projects in economic, energy and transport sectors, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline.

The Georgian Governmental delegation to Azerbaijan included Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze, Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri, Agriculture Minister Otar Danelia, Adviser to the Prime Minister Savalan Mirzayev, Parliament Members Zurab Tkemaladze, Mahir Darziyev and Ali Mamedov, also Deputy Head of the Government’s Administration Nino Kobakhidze and Deputy Economy Minister Dimitri Kumsishvili.

After the meeting the President of Azerbaijan hosted the Georgian delegation at an official dinner in Zagulba Palace.

This was Garibashvili’s second visit to Azerbaijan since taking on the role as Prime Minister. In December last year Garibashvili attended a working visit to Azerbaijan where he met Aliyev and addressed a conference on stage 2 of developing Azerbaijan’s offshore Shah Deniz gas field.