UAE, Azerbaijan confirm strength of bilateral relations

The UAE and Azerbaijan have confirmed the strength of their bilateral relations and stressed the importance of promoting co-operation in all economic, tourism, agricultural, health and transportation fields, as well as investments, petrochemical industries and financial and banking services.
This was stated in a joint statement issued by H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, at the end of his official visit to Azerbaijan on Monday, where he met with Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Mehriban Aliyeva, Vice President and First Lady of Azerbaijan.
Sheikh Abdullah visited the tomb of the national Azerbaijani leader, Heydar Aliyev, in the country’s honorary tombs and laid wreathe on the tomb. He also visited the martyrs’ cemetery.
During the visit, H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met with Elmar Mammadyarov in the presence of members of both delegations.
The two ministers expressed their satisfaction about recent developments in the political dialogue between both countries, and stressed their mutual respect and support for their sovereignty and the unity of their territories while acknowledging respect to their international borders.
Sheikh Abdullah confirmed the UAE’s support for settling the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia on the Nagorno-Karabakh region based on the sovereignty of Azerbaijan and the unity of its territories, according to the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
Both sides highlighted the strong relations between the UAE and Azerbaijan, which was founded by the late President Heydar Aliyev and the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan during their historic meeting at the Islamic Cooperation Summit in Casablanca in 1994.
Both sides stressed the importance of the valuable role of the Joint Government Committee established in 2009, to promote co-operation in the economic, energy, tourism, agricultural, health, investment, petrochemical industries and financial and banking services' fields, as well as the exchange of experience between the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai and the Maritime Trade Port in Baku.
Mammadyarov stated that exempting UAE nationals from visa entry requirements to Azerbaijan contributed to the 30-fold increase in tourist numbers from the UAE in 2016 while highlighting the increase of weekly flights to 30 flights per week between both countries.
Sheikh Abdullah congratulated Azerbaijan for successfully hosting the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games, which would further strengthen ties among the Islamic countries, while Mammadyarov praised the participation of UAE athletes in the games.
Then they signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Standards, Metrology and Patents Committee of Azerbaijan and the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology.

Source: WAM