Baku hosts BSEC committee meeting

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

The 48th meeting of the Committee for Culture, Education and Social Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation kicked off in Baku on April 25.

About 50 delegates from the member countries take part in the meeting, which will mull cooperation in the field of healthcare.

Addressing the meeting, Committee’s Deputy Chairman Ozcan Ulupinar called for decisive steps to improve the healthcare system in the BSEC countries.

First Vice-Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ziyafat Asgarov , in turn, underlined the need for joint efforts to address the global political and economic problems.   

“The world has never felt such need for cooperation before. It also refers to the BSEC region,” he said.

He noted that over the past years, Azerbaijan has achieved economic progress, increased its economic potential and ensured the development of the healthcare system.

“As one of the important directions of the long-term development strategy pursued by Azerbaijan’s president, large-scale healthcare reforms are being implemented and investments are being made in the sector,” he said.

“More than 500 medical centers have been constructed or repaired. Mortality rate among mothers and babies has sharply decreased. In this regard, familiarity with the experience of developed countries and international cooperation are of great importance.”

During the meeting, the deputy chairman of the committee was elected. The representative of Ukraine Sergey Kunitsin was re-elected to this post.

The protocol of the 47th meeting of the Committee, held in October 2016 in Bucharest, was also approved.

BSEC was established on June 25, 1992, on the basis of the Istanbul Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Agreement signed by 11 heads of state. The key objective of the organization is to support multilateral political and economic initiatives in the Black Sea region. The organization comprises 13 countries.