Croatia and Azerbaijan are interested in advancing their cooperation, notably in the economy, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev said in Baku on Tuesday. (HINA)
Croatia and Azerbaijan are interested in advancing their cooperation, notably in the economy, Croatian President Stjepan Mesic and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev said in Baku on Tuesday.
"It is a privilege for us to cooperate with Azerbaijan. That country, which has the highest growth rate in the world, is definitely interesting to any country, including Croatia," President Mesic told reporters after meeting Aliyev. He identified the shipbuilding, construction and pharmaceutical industries as possible areas of cooperation.
Croatian President is on a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan, which the two presidents believe should boost bilateral relations.
"We have agreed that the key to expanding bilateral relations is economic cooperation, which at the moment is unsatisfactory both with regard to objective possibilities and the countries' interest," President Mesic said. The two statesmen attended the signing of four agreements - an agreement on cooperation between the two countries' diplomatic academies, a memorandum of cooperation between their economy ministries, an agreement on cooperation between their chambers of the economy, and an agreement on the stimulation and mutual protection of investments.
Azerbaijani President Aliyev told reporters he was confident that an economic forum, to be held in Baku on Wednesday, would provide Croatian and Azerbaijani business people with an opportunity to identify new possibilities and areas of economic cooperation.
The two presidents also discussed the situation in their respective regions, agreeing that the existing outstanding issues and crisis spots should be dealt with peacefully and through negotiations. Azerbaijan and its neighbour Armenia have been in dispute over Azerbaijan's largely Armenian populated region of Nagorno Karabakh, which has been under Armenia's control since the end of the war in the area in 1994.
President Mesic today also met Azerbaijani Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov.
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