On August 22, an official welcome ceremony was held for President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is on a state visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

One-one and expanded meetings

On the same day, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held a one-on-one and expanded meetings with Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in political, economic, trade, industry, automobile production, metallurgy, pharmaceutical, transportation, and other fields were discussed during the meeting. In particular, the sides expressed satisfaction with increased direct flights between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. It was noted that 15 flights were carried out every week.

Aliyev said, "Of course, serious groundwork has already been created for bilateral cooperation in many areas. This includes our individual contacts, regular meetings in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and other places, as well as close interaction between representatives of state bodies. They are also working hard, and I think they take a good example from the presidents. They also know that, as we discussed, we will monitor the progress of the implementation of all decisions, and we are doing it successfully. In our expanded meeting, we will give the floor to members of our delegations who will report to us on the work done in the fields of energy, transport, and economic interaction as a whole following the meeting of the intergovernmental commission last month."

Mirziyoyev noted: "As I already said, 2023 has been a remarkable year. Because the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev, the Great Leader, the leader of Azerbaijan, and the great son of the Azerbaijani people, was held in Uzbekistan at a very high level. Of course, the memory of Heydar Alirza oglu is revered with utmost respect in Uzbekistan. In fact, I think that the people of Uzbekistan value all the work done in a completely different way. The older generation, the people who saw him, met him, and worked with him, have also conveyed to the young people of Uzbekistan that Heydar Alirza oglu worked for a long time for Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan to reach the goals set in those difficult moments of life, for the leadership of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan to understand each other and to achieve a lot."

Bilateral documents

Following the expanded meeting of Aliyev and Mirziyoyev, a ceremony of signing Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan documents has been held.

Ilham Aliyev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a "Contract on the establishment of the Supreme Interstate Council between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Uzbekistan."

Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mikayil Jabbarov and Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Laziz Kudratov signed a "Protocol on cooperation between the State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Committee for Competition Promotion and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan."

Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rahman Hummatov and Minister of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan Ilhom Makhkamov signed a "Protocol on cooperation in the field of application of the information system for the electronic exchange of permit approval documents."

Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov and Minister of Energy of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jurabek Mirzamakhmudov signed an "Agreement on deepening cooperation in the field of energy."

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov signed a "Memorandum on cooperation between the Service of the Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Office of the Security Council under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan".

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov signed a "Protocol on additions and amendments to the Agreement on visa-free travel for the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Uzbekistan."

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov signed a "Road Map on deepening comprehensive strategic partnership between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2023-2024".

A total of 20 documents were signed as part of the visit.

Press statements

After signing the documents, Ilham Aliyev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev made press statements.

Aliyev noted, "Issues related to industrial cooperation have also been analyzed in great detail. Last month, a regular intergovernmental commission meeting was held in Shusha, which analyzed in detail the entire range of our interaction. Three are good prospects in the energy sector. Our energy companies closely cooperate with each other. In the transport and logistical sector, we observe an increase in cargo traffic and, most importantly, an increase in the potential for cooperation in this direction. Today, we discussed issues that will predetermine our successful cooperation in all areas for many years to come."

Mirziyoyev emphasized: "On transport. If we talk about aviation, we have 15 flights a week, and we agreed to increase it even more. What does this mean? When we travel more, we get to know each other, we meet and become even closer."

"Ilham Heydarovich, I want to sincerely tell you that I understand him perfectly well when he speaks Azerbaijani, and Ilham Heydarovich tells me that when I speak in Uzbek, he says at these summits: 'I fully understand you.' So this says a lot. We should know, appreciate, love, and promote this," he added.