Azerbaijani President Completes Visit To Belarus
The president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, completed his two-day state visit to Belarus on October 18.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on October 17 signed a bilateral accord on social and economic cooperation until 2015, following their talks earlier the same day in Minsk, Belapan reported.
Alexander Lukashenko suggested that both countries could implement joint projects in developing oil and gas fields in Azerbaijan. According to Lukashenko, Azerbaijan possesses large oil reserves, and Belarus has powerful refining facilities, so the two countries "have a basis to develop cooperation in power engineering". Belarus is interested in increasing oil transit, including Caspian oil, Lukashenko said. "We are ready to provide pipelines to transit Caspian oil to the Baltic States and Poland. We have a good opportunity to carry out joint projects in developing deposits and extract oil and gas," Lukashenko said. "We have good prospects in the oil and gas sector," Lukashenko said during a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in Minsk, ITAR-TASS reported.
In turn, Aliev said the two economies were complementary. He said cooperation was most promising in the oil and gas sector and mentioned a possibility of setting up a joint venture in the defense industry. "All cooperation areas are of practical importance," Aliyev said.
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko believes it necessary to carry out large joint projects with Azerbaijan in industry and power engineering.
Both presidents agreed that Belarus will establish a tractor-assembly plant in Azerbaijan and supply the country with farm equipment. Aliyev reportedly expressed his satisfaction with the successful development of trade and economic ties between Belarus and Azerbaijan. "What is manufactured in Belarus is currently in demand in Azerbaijan and what is made in Azerbaijan is of interest to your country," he told Lukashenko.
Trade turnover between Belarus and Azerbaijan in 2005 amounted to $30 million. Belarus supplies Azerbaijan with tractors, trucks, road-construction equipment, and plywood, while importing raw tobacco, cotton fiber, and foodstuffs from Azerbaijan.
Before his departure from Minsk, Mr. Aliyev expressed his satisfaction with the results of the visit, noting that the "industrial and economic potential of Belarus would be a good basis for further fruitful cooperation between the two countries in all areas," reported government information sources.
Valentin Rybakov, an aide to Alexander Lukashenko, said that Lukashenko would visit Azerbaijan the following year.