Belarus is committed to systemic and long-term economic cooperation with Azerbaijan. This was stated by President Alexander Lukashenko at the talks with leader of this country Ilham Aliyev, who is paying an official visit to Belarus. The countries have no closed topics. Relationships are evolving both politically and economically. And today, projects are being worked out in detail that will bring mutual benefit to the two countries.
For the President of Azerbaijan, this is the fifth official visit to Belarus. Moreover, the politicians often meet at summits. Recently, they have met in Tajikistan in the format of the CIS. This time the focus is on the bilateral agenda.
Minsk and Baku are strategic partners. Such a high status is the result of a quarter-century collaboration. The economy is also trying to keep up with politics: there are more than 70 representative offices of Belarusian companies in Azerbaijan, we have 60 enterprises with Azerbaijani capital in Belarus.
This year, the turnover shows a good pace: only from January to September, the growth is more than three times compared with 2017. But this is not the full potential.
A large team arrived in Minsk with Ilham Aliyev. The work began yesterday: an intergovernmental commission met. Perhaps the best example of cooperation is the Ganja Automobile Plant.
The result of the negotiations is a signed package of documents: agreements and memorandums in agriculture, social security, communications, law enforcement. With a joint statement, the Heads of State confirmed a mutual desire to build up a high level of relations. The long-standing friendship between Belarusians and Azerbaijanis is more important than any documents.
