Afghanistan, Azerbaijan to boost cooperation

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani and a visiting delegation from Azerbaijan on Wednesday agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (M0U on strengthening bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries.

President Ghani met the delegation led by Azerbaijani economy and industry minister Shahin Mustafayev at the Presidential Palace, a statement from the palace said.

It quoted Mustafayev as saying that Afghanistan was moving in the right direction and his country would support the Afghan government.

The visiting minister said relations between his country and Afghanistan had improved and would hopefully further improve in future on political, economic and security fronts.

Mustafayev also invited an Afghan delegation to be headed by Mines and Petroleum Minister Duad Shah Saba to visit Azerbaijan for talks on future framework of economic cooperation. He said his country was ready to open a joint exhibition showcasing Afghan and Azerbaijani products.

President Ghani said recent gains achieved by Azerbaijan were a good example for regional countries to follow. He said the Afghan delegation would jointly work with Azerbaijani counterparts to chalk out frameworks of short, mid and long-term cooperation and discuss new investment opportunities.

After the Afghan delegation’s talks with Azerbaijani officials, the president said a memorandum of understand (MoU) on bilateral cooperation would be signed between the two countries.  He said the ground had been paved for private and government companies of Azerbaijan to make investment in Afghanistan.

Mustafayev also called on Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah at a separate meeting at the CEO’s office in Kabul. At the meeting, Mustafayev assured Abdullah of developing various Afghan sectors including gas, oil, transport, electricity, railways and industry, a statement from the CEO’s office said.

Mustafayev said his country enjoyed strong security and diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and was ready to assist and share experience with Kabul in implementing its development plans, which he appreciated.

For his part, Abdullah said Azerbaijan had been in Afghanistan-like situation two decades ago and the country’s experience in dealing with crises could help in improving the situation in Afghanistan.

The CEO said a government-level joint committee of the two countries would start working soon on strengthening bilateral economic cooperation in areas of gas, cement, oil and electricity.

ma

Visits: 0