Georgian PM Bakhtadze meets Azerbaijani President Aliyev in Baku
PM Bakhtadze:"I am convinced that we can increase trade volume by 50-60% in two years." Photo: PM's press office
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Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze is visiting Azerbaijan for the first time in the position, with his first meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev taking place today.
The meeting was held at the Presidential Zagulba Palace in Baku.
“Georgia and Azerbaijan are strategic partners and this is a tremendous achievement,” underlined Bakhtadze in his remarks before the beginning of the meeting.
“I am thrilled that trade volumes are increasing between our countries. According to our expectations, we will hit [USD] one billion this year, however neither this is anywhere close to our full potential. I am convinced that we can increase trade volume by 50-60% in two years through mutual cooperation,” stressed Bakhtadze, while commenting on the results of the face to face meeting.
“Georgia and Azerbaijan jointly implement significant projects. Our shared initiatives carried out in the transport sector have great importance throughout Europe and Asia. Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey are actively cooperating within the scope of all these projects.”
“I believe that additional efforts need to be mobilised to increase trade volumes. I know that Georgia has a very favorable investment climate. We are thrilled that size-wise Azerbaijan is the largest investor in Georgia. We will discuss a number of topics today and will touch upon regional cooperation," emphasised the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev after the meeting.
Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs assessed his meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart as “very productive” on his official Twitter account:
The agenda of the Georgian Prime Minister also includes meetings with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Novruz Mammadov and parliamentary speaker Ogtay Asadov. The perspectives of the relations between two neighboring nations will be discussed at the meeting of two official delegations, which includes the Azerbaijani economy, finance, foreign ministers and the president of company SOCAR.
PM Mamuka Bakhtadze and Georgia’s official delegation will return to Tbilisi today.
Georgia’s natural gas balance for 2018 is approved and it shows Georgia will not purchase natural gas from Russia this year.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev says that the investment climate in Georgia is the best. Aliyev hosted Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Baku today. At the meeting Aliyev highlighted some of the fields where Georgia and Azerbaijan have been cooperating successfully.
Defence agencies of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan will widen cooperation in bid to ensure regional security and stability, following a three-way meeting between defence ministers in Tbilisi earlier today.
Georgia attracted $403.3 million in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017. FDI’s this year were up 3.7 percent from the preliminary data of Q1 2016, show preliminary data released today by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
Vice Prime Minister of Georgia and Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia met with his Azerbaijani colleague Ramil Usubov yesterday to discuss cooperation prospects in terms of fighting against organised crime and drug trafficking.