Azerbaijan, Georgia mull cooperation in various fields

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

The prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia in various sectors were high on the agenda of talks held between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili.

During an expanded meeting held as part of President Aliyev's official visit to Tbilisi on November 5, the presidents discussed economic, infrastructure, energy, railway and humanitarian and other sectors.

Prior to the expanded meeting, President Aliyev and President Margvelashvili held a one-on-one meeting, and the sides expressed satisfaction with the successful development of bilateral relations and expressed confidence that the relations between the two countries would develop even further.

The importance of the Azerbaijani president's official visit to Georgia was emphasized in terms of the expansion of the bilateral ties as well.

The sides also exchanged views over the issues of international, bilateral and mutual interest.

Later, President Aliyev and President Margvelashvili signed a Joint Declaration and made statements for the press.

An official dinner reception has been hosted on behalf of the Georgian president in honor of President Aliyev.

Azerbaijan and Georgia established diplomatic relations in 1992, a year after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. In October 1997, Azerbaijan and Georgia became two of the four founding members of GUAM, an organization that also includes Ukraine and Moldova.

Today the two countries are successfully cooperating in the political field, and strategic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia is developing from day to day.

The two neighboring countries enjoy not only good political relations, but also long-standing and successful cooperation in the energy sector. Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is deeply involved in the energy market of the neighboring South Caucasus republic.

Azerbaijan has long been one of Georgia’s largest trade partners. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $1.35 billion in 2014.

Azerbaijan mainly exports petroleum, petroleum oils and gases, gypsum, anhydrite, plaster and other products to Georgia, while motor cars, live bovine animals, bars and rods of iron, and cement are the most imported goods from Georgia to Azerbaijan.