Ilham Aliyev held expanded meeting with President of Laos

On October 13, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held an expanded meeting with President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith.

Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Once again, welcome, Mr. President. I'm very glad that you accepted my invitation and are visiting Azerbaijan. I'm sure that the visit will strengthen our bilateral ties and create new opportunities for cooperation.

We have just had a tête-à-tête meeting, where we broadly discussed our bilateral agenda, including political and economic areas and areas of mutual interest. And now we'll continue with the participation of the delegations.

I think that the best result of your visit will be the further strengthening of our political ties. We are good friends, and we cooperate actively on the international arena. And we definitely want to see more active development on the economic track. I looked at some figures; they're very small, but there is great potential. I think your visit will give a boost to our economic cooperation. And also, as I said during our tête-à-tête meeting, we are ready to consider practical investment projects in your country. And I think the business communities of both sides will explore that opportunity. Also, you will have meetings, as we discussed, with the heads of our parliament and government, where the discussions will continue.

In general, we are very satisfied with the level of political ties. We have met several times on different international occasions, but this is the first official visit by the President of Laos to Azerbaijan, and it definitely has a special status. And also, thank you for attending the CICA Summit. With the unanimous support of all the countries, Azerbaijan was selected to chair CICA and has tried to contribute to the development of this institution over the last two years. And of course, the summit in Baku, with the large participation of heads of state and government and other officials, will definitely strengthen security and cooperation in Asia. And in general, our foreign policy towards Asia is, I think, very dynamic and result-oriented. I wish you a pleasant stay. Once again, welcome to Azerbaijan.

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Then, President Thongloun Sisoulith said:

- I am honored and proud to have had this opportunity to lead the high-level delegation from Laos on an official visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan. This visit was undertaken at the gracious invitation of Your Excellency President Ilham Aliyev. I still hold fond memories of my meeting with Your Excellency at the BRICS+ Summit held in Kazan in October 2024, as well as our cordial exchanges at various international forums. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the friendly people of Azerbaijan and to Your Excellency for your leadership and for the warm, gracious, and hospitable welcome extended to me and my delegation from the moment we arrived in this beautiful city of Baku. Having previously visited Azerbaijan and Baku in 1982, more than 40 years ago, and having followed the country’s development over the years, I am now witnessing it firsthand and am profoundly impressed by the rapid progress and transformation of your country. This marks my first official visit to Azerbaijan in my capacity as President of Laos. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries in 1995, this is the first visit at the head-of-state level and represents a historic milestone. It further consolidates, expands, and elevates our traditional bonds of friendship and cooperation, ushering in a new era of closer and more effective partnership.