National Day of Afghanistan celebrated in Baku

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

National Day of Afghanistan was marked in Baku on September 19 at a solemn ceremony organized by the country’s Embassy in Azerbaijan.

A grand reception brought together the heads of diplomatic corpus accredited in Azerbaijan, representatives of the Afghan diaspora and public figures of Azerbaijan.

In his welcoming speech the Afghan Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Taqi Khalili said that Afghanistan goes a long way to prosperity.

Security remains our biggest impediment to growth, the ambassador noted “We know this. Our partners confirm this,” he said.

Mohammad Khalili pointed out that a key to overcoming this barrier is the support of the international community. “Mindful of how key this support will be safeguard the security of our nation, I would like to take this moment to express my gratitude to President Aliyev and the Azerbaijani government for the ever-increasing strength of our bilateral alliance,” the ambassador said.

Khalili emphasized that these ties and this friendship continue to be reflected in many ways in the support provided to the defense and other security forces. “Overall, the afghan people in Azerbaijan and at home have been aided through training and education in a range of institutions, and for this, we are truly grateful,” he noted.

The Afghan diaspora is embraced all over the world, Khalili stressed, but especially in Azerbaijan, through our ties of charity and bonds of filial brotherhood as fellow Islamic nations.

The ambassador also touched upon the recently signing of the memorandum of understanding between ASAN Xidmat (ASAN Service) and Afghan Ministry of Finance, noting that, despite e country's will to ensure the integrity of Afghanistan, the country still has obstacles.

A memorandum on creating a public service delivery mechanism in Afghanistan based on Azerbaijani model was inked earlier in July. ASAN service is an innovative Azerbaijani model of public service delivery.

Speaking at the ceremony, Azerbaijan’s Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev, congratulated Afghan people. He said that the two countries fruitfully cooperate in many fields, including economy, energy, culture and education.

The two sides also successfully cooperate at the level of international organizations, according to the minister.

Afghanistan recognized the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991 and the diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1994.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan was $23.47 million in the first half of 2016, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee, and the entire amount accounted for the export of Azerbaijani goods to Afghanistan.