Ilham Aliyev received president of International Association of Ports and Harbors

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received President of the International Association of Ports and Harbors Santiago Garcia-Mila.

Santiago Garcia-Mila said he was pleased to participate in the Annual Conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbors held in Baku. He emphasized the importance of participation of more than 400 delegates from 65 countries in the conference, noting that they represent ports, which are members of the International Association of Ports and Harbors and account for about 70 percent of the international maritime shipping.

Emphasizing that the event was excellently organized in Azerbaijan, Santiago Garcia-Mila noted that they were deeply impressed with the development processes in Baku. He said that Baku had already become an international trading hub, and expressed his hope that Azerbaijan would play a vital role in the Great Silk Road and "One Belt, One Road" Initiative projects. Santiago Garcia-Mila described the organization of the annual conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbors in Baku as a remarkable event, adding that next year the event will be held in China.

President Ilham Aliyev underlined the importance of the annual conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbors in Baku, saying he is glad with the participation of representatives from a large number of countries. The head of state thanked the Association for choosing Baku as a venue for this event and said that Azerbaijan had already made great strides in the transport and other sectors and become one of the international transport centers. Underlining the role of Azerbaijan’s geographical location in this regard, President Ilham Aliyev described this as the result of large investments made in modern transport infrastructure of Azerbaijan. The head of state noted that this fact was confirmed not only by the building of the new Baku port in Alat settlement, but also by the construction of modern railways, highways and airports. Touching upon the East-West and North-South international transport corridors, President Ilham Aliyev said that thanks to the implementation of these projects, important international transportation would be carried out through the territory of Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev said that the transport infrastructure was at a very high level in Azerbaijan today, adding that the first phase of the New Baku port would be fully completed in the near future. The head of state described it as Azerbaijan’s contribution to international cooperation in the transport sector.