Meeting of Ilham Aliyev and Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey in expanded format was held

After a face-to-face meeting, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey met in an expanded format with the participation of their delegations.

Welcoming the guests, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Mrs. President!

Once again, welcome to Azerbaijan! I am very pleased to see you. We have just had interesting discussions concerning the different spheres of our bilateral ties, including those on the regional plane. I remember we last met in Davos. We have met several times. I consider this visit to be very important, as it is an official visit of the Swiss President to our country. It also demonstrates how much attention we are paying to the development of bilateral relations. I can say that our relations are developing successfully. Our political dialogue and consultations are at a high level. We have good prospects in bilateral economic cooperation. Energy security issues are always part of our discussions. We view Switzerland as an important partner, a friendly country for Azerbaijan. We are doing everything possible for a more rapid development of our relations, for the expansion of the bilateral agenda. I want to reiterate that our political relations are at a very high level.

After saying that these relations are having a positive impact on other spheres of life of the two countries, the head of state expressed confidence that we would witness even greater development in the spheres of economic cooperation, mutual investment, cultural exchange and, of course, the energy sector in the coming years. Energy is one of the key issues on the international agenda, especially in our region and Europe, not least in terms of regional development.

Expressing her gratitude, Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey said:

- Thank you, Mr. President! I am grateful to you for the hospitality I have enjoyed. I am pleased with the level of our bilateral relations. We were developing these relations last year. We must carry on developing our bilateral relations in different spheres, including the fields of culture, economics and energy, to an even higher level. I think there is special partnership between our countries. We cooperate within the framework of international organizations.

The Swiss President also noted that both countries were represented on the same regional group of Bretton Woods institutes, and thanked the Azerbaijani President for the effective partnership within this organization.