President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received the credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Panama Mariela del Carmen Sagel Rosas.

Ambassador Mariela del Carmen Sagel Rosas presented her credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

The head of state then spoke with the ambassador.

President Ilham Aliyev said that the two countries maintained good cooperation within the framework of international organizations, especially in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and expressed gratitude to Panama for the extension of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of this organization, as well as for the support of Panama for the initiatives put forward by Azerbaijan regarding COVID-19. Noting that Azerbaijan, as chair of the Movement, was making an effort towards institutional development of the Non-Aligned Movement, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that two important events in this regard – the Baku Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network and the Youth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement – had been held very successfully, adding that this gave the Movement a further impetus. The head of state pointed to the support of member states of the organization in this regard. President Ilham Aliyev described the adoption of a unanimous decision by member states on the extension of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the organization as an expression of great support and respect for Azerbaijan.

Touching upon bilateral relations, the head of state noted the need to identify opportunities for cooperation in the economic field and eliminate the lack of information between business circles. President Ilham Aliyev expressed his confidence that the newly-appointed Ambassador would contribute to expanding relations between the two countries.

Expressing her gratitude for the kind words, Mariela del Carmen Sagel Rosas noted that despite the small size of the territory of Panama, it had significant economic and commercial opportunities. Ambassador Mariela del Carmen Sagel Rosas drew attention to the possibility of using the opportunities of her country as an international hub in this regard. The Ambassador also expressed hope that the relations between the two countries would expand in the areas of trade, culture and others.