AZERBAIJAN, March 1 - President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

President Ilham Aliyev said at the meeting:

- Dear Shavkat Miromonovich, welcome to Azerbaijan! Thank you for taking the time to visit Azerbaijan. We will participate in an important international event together, but it is also a good opportunity to meet, talk and monitor the implementation of our tasks, as we agreed during our previous meetings.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev: By our teams.

President Ilham Aliyev: I think the teams are working well. They meet often, there has recently been an important meeting in Uzbekistan again. They also communicate very actively on the phone. So there is very active interaction in all directions.

I think 2022 was a record year in terms of the development of our relations. I have visited Uzbekistan three times. This year begins with your visit. I am sure we will have several meetings this year because there are many issues and topics to be discussed.

Most importantly, all the decisions we make are implemented on time. I actually think they are implemented in a larger volume than we planned. Because just recently, new ideas and new projects were discussed at an event in Tashkent. Industrial cooperation, agriculture and urban development – the process continues in all directions, as indeed it should between brothers. So thank you very much for this attitude.

I remember my visits to Uzbekistan with great warmth. I am pleased to remember the hospitality shown to us. Also, I want to express my gratitude again for your participation in the reconstruction of Karabakh. This is the first project funded by a foreign government. It is a school gifted by you to the formerly displaced people. We are very grateful for that. The people of Azerbaijan highly appreciate this. The construction work is powering ahead. Inshallah, we will celebrate it together this year. Welcome again!

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President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said:

- Thank you very much, dear Ilham Heydar oglu. It is very nice for me to be visiting Azerbaijan, a country very close and friendly to us. Indeed, we made some preparations, and today we have been feeling this hospitality from the very first minute. We feel perfectly at home here. Thank you very much for that.

In fact, as you mentioned, our regular meetings have introduced a completely new content to our strategic partnership. In recent years, we have together made a great leap in our bilateral relations. As you have already noted, our teams work in a different manner. There are tangible results, and every meeting of ours probably gives an impetus to our relations and agreements.

I think that our teams, which we will strictly monitor, will do everything on time. You have already mentioned the regular meetings of our teams. In December last year, there was a meeting with our Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev. Recently, I received Mikayil Jabbarov. We talked for a long time and discussed all the issues. It is the result of our relations that meetings are held at the regional level, and the holding of such a business forum speaks volumes. You have also mentioned new projects, and it might seem that we simply met, but we prepared very seriously for that. The projects are worth 800 million dollars. Ilham Heydar oglu, this shows that we actually have huge potential.

In particular, I would like to mention the forum of regions and the meeting of the business council. Many entrepreneurs participated in those events. I have talked with the leaders of twin cities – Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Kokand. I told them: we are meeting today, but tomorrow I will meet with my brother Ilham Heydar oglu and we will discuss these things with him. They said: You can rest assured that all the issues we discussed will be implemented and resolved.

There will be serious results in terms of automobile production soon. These are 3,000 new cars that will be produced in March and 7,000 will be produced in September. This is a completely different brand and different quality. Second, we have agreed on a cotton cluster. Both our teams have already reached agreement. Land plots have been allocated for this purpose and I think we can achieve the results we are talking about. We had many problems in sericulture, but I think they are being addressed very well. The heads of our sericulture enterprises report to me that they are working from their homes. They say that all conditions have been created for them at home. We have reported that all issues and preferences are being resolved at the level of parliaments. This already shows that we will have many joint projects in these areas in the future.

We are preparing a big project with SOCAR in the field of oil and gas. The feasibility study of the project is already being prepared, and I think that this process will develop gradually.

I think our meeting today, as well as our participation in the Non-Aligned Movement, will be very useful. I would like to specially mention that the reputation of this organization has increased with the successful chairmanship of Azerbaijan. A special resolution of the United Nations on vaccines was adopted, parliamentary and youth structures of the Movement were established. In my opinion, this is Azerbaijan’s historic chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement. All countries have seen your determination and effort. In the current complex circumstances, only Azerbaijan can raise the level of this Movement. I want to congratulate you on this occasion. I am delighted to see you again. I think we have a good opportunity to exchange ideas and listen to our teams.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you.

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Issues of humanitarian cooperation between the two countries were also discussed at the meeting.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized that the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev, the National Leader of the Azerbaijani people, was to be celebrated this year, noting that events marking this occasion would also be held in Uzbekistan.