President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has accepted credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia Dainis Garančs.

Ambassador Dainis Garančs reviewed a guard of honor.

Dainis Garančs presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then spoke with the ambassador.

Hailing the development of the political relations, the head of state stressed the role of his visits to Latvia and the Latvian presidents` trips to Azerbaijan in expanding the bilateral ties. Touching upon the economic cooperation, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted good opportunities for developing the relations in trade, investment, tourism and other areas.

The head of state expressed hope that Dainis Garančs would contribute to the development of the bilateral ties during his tenure.

Ambassador Dainis Garančs described Azerbaijan as a strategic partner of Latvia in the region. Praising the high development of political relations between the two countries, he noted the importance of reciprocal visits at different levels. Dainis Garančs pointed out that the Intergovernmental Commission played an important role in expanding economic cooperation and increasing trade turnover.

Stressing the significance of interregional relations in developing cooperation between the two countries, the ambassador said that sister relations were established between 14 cities of Azerbaijan and Latvia. He underlined that Azerbaijan and Latvia enjoyed fruitful cooperation in the fields of culture, science and education.

Azerbaijan`s relations with the European Union were highlighted at the meeting, and as an EU member state Latvia`s support for the development of Azerbaijan`s cooperation with the organization was emphasized.