Azerbaijan, Georgia discuss current state & prospects of co-op in various sectors

By Ayya Lmahamad

The IX meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia was held in Tbilisi on December 15, Azernews reports.

The meeting, chaired by Azerbaijani and Georgian Prime Ministers Ali Asadov and Irakli Garibashvili, was attended by the heads of relevant state agencies of the two countries.

In his opening speech, Ali Asadov noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and emphasized that during these years, the relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia have reached the level of strategic partnership.

In this regard, he expressed satisfaction with the development of relations in the political, economic, investment, energy, transport, cultural and humanitarian sectors. He also underlined the importance of mutual support within the framework of international organizations.

Speaking about inter-regional cooperation, the prime minister stated that the contacts between individual cities and districts of both countries have recently become more intensive, which, naturally, has a very positive impact on the comprehensive development of Azerbaijani-Georgian relations.

Moreover, he brought to attention that several cities and regions of the two countries, including Baku and Tbilisi, signed twinning agreements in the past and during the current year.

Taking into account this positive trend, an initiative was put forward to hold a possible Azerbaijani-Georgian interregional forum.

Further, the increase in trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Georgia and the importance of implementing joint projects for further expansion of mutual trade was emphasized.

In this regard, the parties noted the importance of increasing investment cooperation.

The energy sector was considered one of the main priorities of bilateral cooperation. The sides noted that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, and Southern Gas Corridor projects contribute greatly to Azerbaijan and Georgia's economic development.

It was emphasized that great attention is traditionally paid to transport and transit, where there is a steady growth in cargo transportation. In this regard, the importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was especially noted.

"The launch of the railway at full capacity will serve for even greater prosperity and economic progress of our countries,” Ali Asadov said.

Likewise, the relevance of the Middle Corridor was also emphasized, and the importance of increasing joint efforts to attract additional cargo volumes to this route was brought to the attention.

In this context, the prime minister stressed the importance of the Zangazur corridor as part of the Middle Corridor.

"This corridor will ensure the diversification of regional transport communications and connections," he said.

Additionally, prospects for the development of Azerbaijani-Georgian strategic partnership in the whole complex of relations were widely discussed during the meeting.

Following the meeting, prime ministers signed the protocol of the IX meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The heads of the relevant government agencies signed several agreements on the development of cooperation in agriculture, ecology, small and medium-sized business sectors.