President Ilham Aliyev receives participants of CAREC Ministerial Conference - UPDATE - PHOTOS

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received yesterday participants of the Ministerial Conference dedicated to the 10th jubilee of the Central Asian Economic Cooperation Programme (CAREC).

The Head of State said Baku`s hosting the Ministerial Conference dedicated to the 10th jubilee of CAREC was a great occasion for Azerbaijan. The Head of State expressed confidence that successful development of this Programme would serve deepening regional cooperation and contribute to ensuring peace and welfare in region.

President Aliyev noted economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan in recent years yielded good results. He pointed out very serious programs were being implemented in Azerbaijan on three directions of CAREC. The Azerbaijani leader said great emphasis was placed on trade, transport and energy issues in the country. He added “initiatives put forward by us also serve expansion of regional cooperation”.

The Head of State noted thanks to the activity of the participants of CAREC and Azerbaijani Government, “our economic cooperation is developing successfully in bilateral format, as well”.
President Aliyev said “as you know a lot of work has been done in Azerbaijan on the main directions of CAREC. I am very glad that the Ministerial Conference dedicated to the 10th jubilee of CAREC is being held in Baku.” The President expressed confidence that the conference would have good results.

President of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda thanked the Azerbaijani President for the reception. He noted CAREC would bring successes in the next decade, as well, and strengthen East-West and North-South relations.

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President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev yesterday received Executive Secretary General of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Jan Kubis.

At the meeting with Azerbaijan’s President, Jan Kubis recalled his official visit to Azerbaijan in the capacity of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The UNECE Secretary General said he is amazed to see great changes in the country.

Yan Kubis highly valued Azerbaijan’s energy policy and regional transportation projects and expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan on behalf of the United Nations for the implementation of Trans-Eurasia Information Superhighway (TASIM) project.

Kubis said United Nations has an international centers network around the world and is very interested in creation the International IT Centre in Azerbaijan, taking into account the rapid development of information technologies here.

President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan proved out itself as a reliable partner in energy and regional transport projects. The President said IT sector is developing very fast here. Noting the importance of the various projects carried out by the United Nations, the President supported the idea of creation the United Nations IT Center in Azerbaijan.

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18:10

President Ilham Aliyev has today received Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Hamadoun Toure.

Mr. Toure hailed “BakuTel-2001”, the 17th International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition and Conference. Hamadoun Toure praised Azerbaijan`s activity in information security, one of the world`s urgent problems. He said information and communication technologies were rapidly developing in the country.

The Secretary General stressed the importance of Azerbaijan`s joining ITU`s African countries assistance campaign.  President Ilham Aliyev said the ICT sector, along with the oil and gas sphere, is one of the priorities of the government. President Aliyev said Azerbaijan will actively participate in the regional projects both in the energy and information-communication technologies sectors.

The Head of State said Azerbaijan as a member of the International Telecommunication Union would successfully take part in all projects of the ITU. The sides exchanged views on prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and International Telecommunication Union.

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President Ilham Aliyev has today received President of the Asian Development Bank Haruhiko Kuroda and his accompanying delegation.

The Head of State said he is satisfied with Baku`s hosting the 10th Anniversary Ministerial Conference of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program. The Head of State highlighted the importance of regional cooperation and partnership relations. The Azerbaijani leader underscored the important work has been done so far to implement social and infrastructure projects in the country in recent years. President Aliyev touched upon implementation of the energy, in particular, alternative and renewable energy projects and programs related to creation of the modern road infrastructure, construction of new airports and seaports, reconstruction of water supply and sanitation systems.

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda hailed construction boom in Baku. He underlined President Ilham Aliyev-led successful social infrastructure projects realized in Azerbaijan are in full compliance with the development strategy of IDB member countries. Kuroda pointed out the ADB is keen on participation in these projects. He briefed the Azerbaijani leader on the Bank`s efforts to reduce the impact of the global financial crisis on Asian countries.

Discussions at the meeting also revolved around ADB-implemented projects and prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and ADB.


/AzerTAc/