On January 15, Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a working visit at the invitation of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

Meeting with the President of the United Arab Emirates

On the same day, Ilham Aliyev met with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for the invitation and highly appreciated the United Arab Emirates' support for Azerbaijan in the discussions on the South Caucasus region held at the UN Security Council. He described it as an example of friendship and brotherhood.

The presidents noted that Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates are peace-loving states, emphasizing their efforts to ensure the region's peace, stability, and security. During the conversation, the sides mentioned that Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates maintained close cooperation in the political, economic, security, and other fields and highlighted the significance of expanding these relations. They also underlined the importance of reciprocal visits of the two countries’ delegations at different levels under the political line defined by the heads of state.

Saying that under the leadership of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates has achieved success and significant technological advances, President Ilham Aliyev conveyed his congratulations on this occasion.

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in turn, congratulated Azerbaijan on the successes and victories achieved under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev invited President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to visit Azerbaijan.

Opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

On January 16, Ilham Aliyev attended the official opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week held in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Aliyev stated, "Concerning our potential, just a couple of figures for your attention. 27 gigawatts of wind and solar onshore, 10 gigawatts of wind and solar energy in the territories liberated during the Patriotic War of 2020, and 157 gigawatts of wind energy in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea - almost 200 gigawatts of potential. Of course, we need to have enough export routes. And, of course, to implement all these projects in stages."

"Yesterday, MASDAR and Azerbaijan’s national energy company SOCAR signed an agreement to develop four gigawatts of wind and solar power plants in Azerbaijan, and this is only a short-term project. Mid-term projects will increase the volume up to 10 gigawatts. And this is absolutely doable. We have a roadmap for that. This project, only this project, our cooperation with MASDAR, will transform Azerbaijan into a very important source of green energy exports," he added.

The President concluded: "And, of course, we need export routes for that purpose, as I already mentioned. And just last month, on December 17, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary, and Romania signed an agreement to build a Black Sea sea-belt electric cable from the Black Sea coast of Georgia to the Black Sea coast of Romania. And this agreement was witnessed by the President of the European Commission. So, we plan to build a cable that will allow transporting of green energy from Azerbaijan at the level of four gigawatts. But that will not be enough. This is only what has already been agreed upon. Our plans are much broader."

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