President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Albania Bajram Begaj have held an expanded meeting.

Greeting the guests, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Mr. President, dear guests, welcome once again. I’m very glad to have an opportunity to host Mr. President on an official visit. First of all, I would like to express gratitude for my hospitality during my official visit to Albania last year. I’m glad that we have established very close friendly relations, and high-level political dialogue between our countries has a very good dynamism. Of course, it is an important factor in strengthening relations between our countries, which I would name excellent and reflected in mutual support in international institutions and also much practical activity on the ground with respect to energy and economic development issues.

We have already exchanged views with you on bilateral agenda, regional issues, and issues related to security and cooperation. Now in the presence of delegations, we will continue our dialogue.

I’m really very glad that now Albania and Azerbaijan work as close friends and brothers, and the prospects for our cooperation are very bright. Because there is a solid foundation, which is our friendship and mutual interests and a clear vision for the future of how to move forward our bilateral ties and how to strengthen cooperation. Of course, an important factor for cooperation was issues related to energy development, which we already touched on and will continue during the delegation’s meeting. We have more plans in that respect, which have been discussed with you during my official visit and with other officials from Albania.

So, once again, Mr. President, welcome to Azerbaijan.

President Bajram Begaj said:

- Honorable President, dear friend.

It's a great pleasure for me to meet you today here in the great and beautiful city of Baku. At the same time, I want to express my heartfelt thanks for the warm and friendly hospitality you extended to me and to my delegation. I'm convinced that the intensity of our meetings reaffirms again our commitment and the common will to boost our relations between the two countries, which under the spirit of fraternal friendship and cooperation, have been experiencing dynamic development in recent years both in political and economic fields. As you said, we have an excellent relationship and must work to make an excellent economic relationship. I appreciate your personal contribution and commitment to this new page of the history of relations between the two countries. This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.

Once again, thank you so much.