President Aliyev: Azerbaijan to become important transportation hub in Eurasia

President Aliyev: Azerbaijan to become important transportation hub in Eurasia
# 19 March 2018 11:35 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan will become an important transportation hub in Eurasia and there are already excellent results in this direction, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said.

He made the remarks at the nationwide festivities on the occasion of Novruz, the national holiday of the Azerbaijani people, in Baku March 19, APA reports.

"Azerbaijan is celebrating Novruz with remarkable results. Azerbaijan is undergoing comprehensive development. The reforms being carried out is making the country stronger and increasing its international reputation,” the president said.

President Aliyev noted that the domestic situation in Azerbaijan is stable.

"The main guarantor of this stability is the people of Azerbaijan. Unity between the people and the government is the main guarantor of stability. The reforms carried out in domestic politics are yielding good results,” he said. “The ongoing processes in the world show that only stable countries can develop successfully. Investments are made only in stable countries where people live in security. In many places around the world, stability is disturbed, bloody confrontations occur, wars erupt, and new risks emerge. Security is the top issue on the international agenda. Azerbaijan is one of the countries that have gained respect with their policy in this direction.”

There is no source for internal risks in Azerbaijan, the head of state stressed.

“The country protects and will further protect itself from external risks. We will continue to ensure the prosperity of the Azerbaijani people,” he added.

According to the president, Azerbaijan’s international relations are expanding.

“Today, Azerbaijan is a country enjoying a very high reputation on global scale, and its initiatives serve as a momentum for regional cooperation,” he emphasized.

The head of state reminded that the 6th Global Baku Forum was held several days ago.

About 50 incumbent and former heads of states and governments from more than 50 countries took part in the Forum, the Azerbaijani president noted.

“I can say the Global Baku Forum, in a short period of time, has been able to take its rightful place among the most prestigious forums in the world. I think the issues discussed at the Baku Forum are very important for the world. A conference of foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement will be held in Baku next month; this is also a global, prestigious international event. Holding this event in Azerbaijan is a manifestation of the regular support provided to us by the Non-Aligned Movement and the organization's member countries,” President Aliyev said.

The head of state stressed that Azerbaijan often acts as an initiator in regional cooperation issues.

“A few days ago, Baku hosted the first quadrilateral meeting of the Azerbaijani, Iranian, Georgian and Turkish foreign ministers. I think that this is a historic event, a historic meeting,” he said.

The president reminded that on Azerbaijan’s initiative several successful regional formats have been established over the previous years.

“Azerbaijan-Iran-Georgia, Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia trilateral and Azerbaijan-Iran-Georgia-Turkey quadrilateral formats have been established,” he added.

Azerbaijan was the initiator of all these multilateral formats, the president noted. “This strengthens stability in the region, enhances cooperation and ensures the economic interests of the participating countries. The issues discussed cover political, economic, cultural, transport and other spheres,” he said.

President Aliyev also touched upon the large-scale transport projects which are being implemented in the region on Azerbaijan’s initiative.

“The East-West transport route has already been realized. This route already became active after the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway last year. In the near future, thanks the full operation of the Baku International Sea Trade Port in Alat, the volume of cargo transportation through Azerbaijan will increase several times,” he said.

“Currently, we are dealing with the establishment of the North-South transport corridor. All work relating this corridor has been completed on Azerbaijan’s side. At the same time, Azerbaijan will take additional measures to fully implement this corridor. These two important transport corridors also allowed us to address new initiatives and the South-West transport corridor was discussed during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries in Baku. Despite the fact that Azerbaijan has no access to open sea, the country will become an important transportation hub in Eurasia, and there are already excellent results in this direction,” President Aliyev added.

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