Ilham Aliyev and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Enrico Letta held a meeting in an expanded format with the participation of delegations

After the one-on-one meeting, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Enrico Letta held a meeting in an expanded format with the participation of delegations.

Welcoming the Italian delegation, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Mr. Prime Minister, distinguished guests. Let me welcome you to Azerbaijan again. I am very glad to see you here.

We have had an excellent opportunity to exchange views on major issues of our successfully developing bilateral relations. Of course, your official visit to our country shows the high level of relations between our countries. Our agenda is very broad and covers various areas. We are making progress on all issues on the agenda. This includes political, economic, energy spheres.

In recent years, Italy and Azerbaijan have succeeded in developing a very strong partnership. There is no doubt that this partnership will develop further in the coming years to reach an even higher level. As we noted today, we understand that we must raise our relations to a higher level. We appreciate your visit to our country. This is a great sign of friendship and, at the same time, a great opportunity to address important issues of our bilateral relations. Once again, welcome!

President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Enrico Letta said:

- Thank you, Mr. President. We appreciate your sincere hospitality. The opportunity to be here and discuss ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation with you and with your government is very important for us.

This wonderful opportunity presented itself after the decision on the TAP pipeline. This decision is very important for Italy and much of Europe. I take this opportunity provided by the adoption of this decision to note how important it is for us to strengthen our bilateral relations and cooperation, which is not limited to the energy sector. However, using the energy cooperation, we are further strengthening and raising our relations in the economic and political spheres to an even higher level. There is also efficient cooperation between our armed forces in Afghanistan. Of course, we would like to achieve more significant progress in economic cooperation. In early November, a high-ranking delegation of the confederation of employers and the association of construction workers of Italy will arrive in Baku. The purpose of their visit is to further expand our cooperation.