Islamabad: Pakistan and Azerbaijan reaffirmed their commitment to further expand mutually beneficial cooperation in areas of bilateral interest, particularly energy, trade, connectivity, defense and people-to-people ties.
Welcoming the President of Azerbaijan, the President of Pakistan said that the two countries have excellent relations and have great scope for further improvement of ties in various areas of common interest. He emphasized the need for more regular people-to-business contacts of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to strengthen bilateral relations. He highlighted the importance of Gwadar port, saying that Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan could benefit from it in boosting regional trade, connectivity and tourism, besides bringing shared economic prosperity to the region.
Welcoming the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, the President added that the MoUs will give new impetus to bilateral cooperation in trade, commerce, tourism, mines and minerals, science and technology, law and justice and culture.
The President emphasized that the East has the potential to lead the world to prosperity. He added that Pakistan wants to build sustainable and result-oriented cooperation with Central Asian republics and Azerbaijan.
Speaking on the occasion, President Ilham Aliyev said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy a high frequency of people-to-people exchanges and both countries need to promote business-to-business relations to strengthen economic relations. He said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan could also explore the possibility of cooperation in the renewable energy sector.
Later, the president also hosted a banquet in honor of President Ilham Aliyev and his delegation, which was also attended by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, federal ministers, MPs, diplomats and journalists at the presidential house. The President expressed his warm greetings to the people of Azerbaijan and assured Pakistan’s unwavering support to Azerbaijan.
