On February 2, an official welcome ceremony was held in Baku for Klaus Iohannis, the President of Romania, the Press Office of the Azerbaijani President reported.

Following the official welcome ceremony, the presidents Ilham Aliyev and Klaus Iohannis held a one-on-one meeting.

On the same day, Aliyev and Iohannis also held an expanded meeting.

Moreover, Ilham Aliyev and Klaus Iohannis made press statements after the meetings.

Regarding economic relations, Aliyev stated, "At the same time, there are results in commercial and economic fields. Although the trade turnover has more than doubled, it is still not at the desired level because much of our turnover is made up of crude oil exported from Azerbaijan to Romania. We will take further steps to diversify our trade, and I hope that the activity of the intergovernmental commission will pursue this goal. The commission met in Baku last year and will meet again in Bucharest this year. Thus, there can be good results in the commercial and economic fields."

Turning to the energy issues, he said: "Energy, of course, is not only an issue of Romania-Azerbaijan relations but one at the center of the global agenda. The Azerbaijani oil company SOCAR has been operating in Romania for many years, with more than 70 gas stations and several fuel depots. That is, SOCAR's activity in Romania already has a very good history."

"Our distinguished guest will participate in the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council meeting opening ceremony in Azerbaijan tomorrow. The participation of President Iohannis in the opening demonstrates the great importance of this event. Of course, our main event in Bucharest was about green energy. A significant step has been taken in this direction. The first Advisory Council meeting on green energy will be held tomorrow. This is a very strategic project, a project that requires huge investments, a project that connects several countries and two seas. Of course, we hope tomorrow's first steering committee meeting will also offer a roadmap for future joint activities," he added.

Regarding bilateral relations, Iohannis emphasized, "We in Romania are ready to deepen the strategic partnership between our countries and implement regional projects of strategic importance. We are ready to cooperate in energy, trade, investment, digitization, and agriculture." He added: "I thank Mr. President that Azerbaijan started transporting additional gas volumes to Romania in January. Tomorrow, the state oil companies of both countries, "Romgaz" and SOCAR, will sign a new agreement. According to that agreement, additional gas will be transported to our country in 2023-2024. The Southern Gas Corridor, as well as the future submarine transportation cable of electric energy produced in Azerbaijan from renewable resources, projects that the European Commission supports, will significantly contribute to ensuring energy security in the European Union. We discussed these issues with President Aliyev today."