Ilham Aliyev: We need to create economic bridge between Azerbaijan and Qatar

Baku and Doha have to raise the level of economic cooperation to the level of political cooperation, establish an economic bridge between the countries, and there are a lot of prospects for that, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated at a meeting in an expanded format with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

"I want to welcome you to Azerbaijan. I am very pleased to welcome you to our country. Great importance is attached to your delegation's visit. I am sure that your visit will further strengthen the friendly and fraternal relations between our two countries. Today, we, the members of our delegation, will sign many documents that will create a good legal basis for close cooperation between our countries. We have perfect political relations. We successfully cooperate in international organizations, particularly in the UN, where we always support each other, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. We are grateful for the support of our initiatives in international organizations," Trend quotes the head of Azerbaijan as saying.

Ilham Aliyev said that the establishment of the Joint Economic, Trade and Technical Commission, an agreement on the formation of which was among the documents signed by the parties, will be of great help in boosting economic cooperation.

The President expressed his gratitude to the Emir of Qatar for the fact that he accepted the offer and arrived in Baku. "Your visit will be an additional opportunity for the further development of relations based on mutual respect, trust, friendship and brotherhood. Once again, welcome to Azerbaijan," he concluded.

The Emir of Qatar said that Baku and Doha have established strong relations. "We cooperate in international organizations, the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and many other structures. It is important that mutual understanding and trust between us, praise to Allah, reached its current level. As you noted, we must further expand our relations, especially in the economic and trade spheres. We hope that after today's agreements, things will go faster. For our part, we are very committed to these relations. I will provide every effort on our part to further strengthen these relations," he said.

The Emir of Qatar pointed out that the tourism and cultural spheres are among the promising directions for cooperation. "We are pleased that more and more Qatari citizens are coming to your beautiful country, we hope to see the same thing in Qatar. We must also cooperate in the field of culture. We have many common values in this field. Thus, it is important for our people to understand each other better," al-Thani stated.

"You mentioned the energy sector. Both countries possess energy resources, and we need to invest in this sphere, work on this issue," he added.

The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the invitation and stressed that he was glad to be in Azerbaijan.

In total, representatives of Baku and Doha have signed eight documents. The signing ceremony was attended by the heads of state.

The 'Agreement between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of the State of Qatar' on the establishment of a Joint Economic, Trade and Technical Commission was signed by the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, and the Foreign Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani.

The 'Memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of vocational training and skills development between the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Customs General Administration of the State of Qatar' was signed by the chairman of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, Aydin Aliyev, and the head of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Qatar, Jassim bin Saif al-Sulaiti, Trend reports.

The 'Memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of transport between the Ministry of Transport of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Ministry of Transport and Communication of the State of Qatar' was signed by the Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan, Ziya Mammadov, and Jassim Bin Saif al-Sulaiti.

The 'Memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of budgetary and financial matters between the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Finance of the State of Qatar' was signed by Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov, and his counterpart from Qatar, Ali Shareef al-Emadi.

The 'Memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of agriculture between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of the State of Qatar' was signed by Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture, Heydar Asadov, and Ali Shareef al-Emadi.

The 'Memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of education, higher education and scientific researches between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of the State of Qatar' was signed by the Minister of Education of Azerbaijan, Mikail Jabbarov, and the Minister of Culture and Sports of Qatar, Salah bin Ghanem al-Ali.

The 'Agreement on cooperation in the legal sphere between the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Justice of the State of Qatar' was signed by Elmar Mammadyarov and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani.

The 'Protocol on amendments to the Agreement between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of the State of Qatar on abolition of visa requirements for corresponding citizens with diplomatic and special passports' was signed by Elmar Mammadyarov and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani.

Representatives of the state and government of Azerbaijan were introduced to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the members of Qatari delegation were introduced to President Ilham Aliyev. Then, to the sounds of a military march, a guard of honor marched in front of the heads of state.

After the official meeting, a meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in an expanded format was held. After that, a one-on-one meeting of the President of Azerbaijan and the Emir of Qatar was held.

Finally, an official reception in honor of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was held on behalf of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.