Presidents of Azerbaijan and Montenegro made statements for the press

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic made statements for the press. 

President Filip Vujanovic’s statement

- Mr President Aliyev,

Honourable ministers, distinguished members of the delegation!

Within the framework of the official visit of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic His Excellency Mr Ilham Aliyev to Montenegro, it is a great honour for me to see you, Mr President, and members of your delegation here. We have already stated that we have very good relations. Although our countries are not close to each other from a geographical point of view, our countries are close friends and therefore, there are good relations between us. This kind of multi-faceted relations between our countries also allowed for certain achievements in the economic field and opened opportunities for mutual cooperation. There is a mutual investment process under way. Among these issues, the investments of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic in our country are of special importance to us.

For example, places used for military purposes in the past and barracks have now turned into modern tourist infrastructure facilities. We are also discussing Azerbaijan’s potential of making additional investments in Montenegro. For this purpose, there is an interest in many areas. When it comes to especially interesting and attractive areas for cooperation and investments, we can highlight the construction of the road infrastructure and the energy and tourism sector. We would also like to emphasize the role of the intergovernmental commission on cooperation, which is an important tool in identifying new areas for investment. If there is more interest, this will make it possible to sign new contracts and expand mutual cooperation in the economic sphere.

It was with great pleasure that President Aliyev and I signed the declaration on friendly relations and partnership between Montenegro and the Azerbaijan Republic. This document will form the basis for future relations. We also signed other agreements today. One of them is the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation on income taxes. We also discussed opportunities for cooperation in culture, science and education. We noted that there were broad opportunities for cooperation in these areas.

On behalf of the people of Montenegro, I express my deep gratitude to President Aliyev, the Azerbaijani state and its citizens for their assistance to Montenegro. As you know, this assistance was provided for the construction of a kindergarten in the city of Bijelo Polje. This project was very important for Bijelo Polje. We also discussed the issue of laying out a park with the help of the Azerbaijan side and looked at the presentation. After looking at the presentation, we came to the conclusion that the construction of the park will further enhance our cooperation. I personally express my deep gratitude to Mr President Aliyev for his efforts to maintain and develop such wonderful friendly relations with Montenegro.

President Aliyev has been very active in stimulating economic relations between our countries and has been making great efforts to promote the interests of Azerbaijani investors. I would like to express my deep gratitude to President Aliyev because it was as a result of his hard work that our direct economic cooperation and bilateral relations developed further.

Thank you very much.

President Ilham Aliyev’s statement

- Dear Mr President,

- Dear ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, Mr President, I express my profound thanks to you for the hospitality you have shown me and our delegation. I am very happy to be in your beautiful country. I want to congratulate you and the people of Montenegro on the achievements you have gained during your independence. Your country achieved great success in a short period of time. Even during the crisis years, your economy demonstrated stability. Now Montenegro enjoys a lot of respect and prestige in the international arena. I also want to note that your country is rapidly integrating into Euro-Atlantic structures, and this is one of the successes of your policy.

I am very pleased that Montenegro-Azerbaijan relations are developing successfully. Your official visit to Azerbaijan two years ago, Mr President, gave a strong impetus to these relations. In the two years, there were not only high-level official visits, but we also managed to make progress in the economic field. Today, our positions on economic cooperation totally coincide. The good investment climate established in Montenegro encouraged Azerbaijani investors as well. I am very pleased that Azerbaijani investments are being made in the social sphere and in the creation of the tourism infrastructure in Montenegro. But I think that this is the first step, this is a big step, but this is the first step.

We discussed various aspects of cooperation today, and we came to the conclusion that we need to increase the amount of Azerbaijani investment in Montenegro and deepen economic cooperation.

There is a great interest in the banking sector, and we can successfully cooperate in this field. There are very good opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector. Today, we also discussed major transport projects being implemented by Azerbaijan. In particular, issues related to the delivery of energy to the European continent were discussed, and Montenegro-Azerbaijan cooperation on these issues can be very successful.

I have heard a lot about your beautiful country before. Today, however, I see that your country has really passed a long and successful way. In connection with all these successes, I sincerely congratulate you as a friend.