PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN AND LATVIA MAKE MEDIA STATEMENTS

Baku, August 10 (AzerTAc). Following a ceremony of awarding orders, Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Valdis Zatlers of Latvia have made statements for the media outlets.
“We place high priority on Latvian President`s visiting our country, and I think bilateral relations will definitely and seriously develop after this visit. At present, our relations are developing in a number of fields. We have good political cooperation. Fruitful dialogue is under way. We are enhancing our economic cooperation and I am sure that tomorrow`s business forum will provide an opportunity for businessmen from both countries to get to know each other better and implement joint projects,” Azerbaijani leader said in his statement.
The Head of State noted discussions with his Latvian counterpart also dealt with cooperation in the fields of transport tourism, information technologies, culture and energy.
The Head of State thanked Latvia for supporting Azerbaijan`s cooperation with NATO and European Union. According to the President, Azerbaijan is an active participant of the NATO`s individual partnership action plan and European Union`s Eastern Partnership program.
On the energy cooperation the Head of State said, ”We hold high-level discussions on the energy issues. Azerbaijan plays an important role in ensuring Europe`s energy security. We have built pipelines to diversify supply routes for our energy resources, gained access to European Union`s markets, and the amount of energy supply will be increased in the future”.
“Bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Latvia including our cooperation within European organizations are being successfully continued. Today, president`s visit is an important step in this direction,” said the President Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijani Leader noted Latvian President`s trip would bring positive results for the future cooperation

“During our discussions with President Ilham Aliyev, we described relationship between Azerbaijan and Latvia as excellent”, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers said in his statement.
According to him, the two countries` positions on global and regional issues coincide.
The President noted economic relations between Latvia and Azerbaijan had expanded with trade turnover increased 3-fold over the last 4-5 years.
“We must be good partners, parties to useful agreements and so, create strong basis for cooperation between our countries”.
He said his country would support the European Union`s Eastern Partnership program which aims to boost integration of Azerbaijan into the organization.
Valdis Zatlers thanked Azerbaijan for the country`s support for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan.
He also stressed the role of Azerbaijan in stabilizing the situation in the South Caucasus region.
“Thanks to your wise policy, we achieved some results when the situation was tense a year ago. In this case, we feel ourselves safer.”
President Zatlers also touched upon the energy security in Europe, stressing the necessity of diversification of energy routes. “Implementation of energy projects as Nabucco serves diversification of energy routes”.
The President also pointed out that “there are some additional opportunities for future cooperation”.
He thanked President Ilham Aliyev for the “warm reception”.