On September 14, at the invitation of President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrived in the Republic of Tajikistan for a visit to attend the 5th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia as the guest of honor, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

The 5th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia was held on the same day in Dushanbe. 

Regarding relations with Central Asian countries, Aliyev noted, "Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia are bound by the centuries-long brotherhood ties of our peoples. Shared cultural roots are the solid foundation of interstate relations. For over 30 years, as independent states, we have actively engaged both in bilateral and multilateral formats. We support each other’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and actively develop economic ties. With the growing economy, demographics, and geopolitical potential, Central Asia and Azerbaijan are a single historical and cultural geographic region of strategic significance in world politics."

He emphasized economic ties: "The growth of mutual trade and investments is one of the key factors of bilateral cooperation. It is gratifying that the figures in both of those directions indicate consistent growth. Last year, the trade turnover of Azerbaijan with the Central Asian countries increased more than three times. During seven months of this year – for another 50%. Joint investment funds have been established, and over $1 billion of investments for the coming three years have been agreed upon. We are already implementing many projects in the sphere of industrial cooperation, machine-building, automobile industry, shipbuilding, and agriculture, namely cotton production, sericulture, horticulture, and livestock farming. Investment projects in the hotel business and tourism are at the initial implementation stage. We see the interest of Central Asian companies in the Alat Free Economic Zone established recently in Azerbaijan."

On transportation and logistics, the Azerbaijani leader stated, "We are modernizing the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to meet the rising demand for cargo transportation through the East-West route. The cargo volume via that road will be increased from 1 to 5 million tons. In parallel to that, the capacity of the Baku Trade Port is also being expanded from current 15 to 25 million tons. Azerbaijan has the largest trade fleet in the Caspian Sea, with over 50 vessels. Given the growing demand for shippers from Central Asia, we are actively working on expanding the capabilities of our shipyard. Upon the completion of investment projects, the number of manufactured tankers and dry cargo vessels will be increased from the current 6 to 10-15 vessels annually."

Notably, the initiative of holding consultative meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia was put forward by the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in 2017. The first meeting was held in Kazakhstan, the second in Uzbekistan, the third in Turkmenistan, and the fourth in Kyrgyzstan.