The 12th Azerbaijani-Russian Interregional Forum has been held in the town of Mineralnye Vody, located in Russia`s Stavropol Krai.
Co-organized by Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Economy and Russia`s Ministry of Economic Development, the forum brought together representatives from state institutions, parliaments, executive authorities, businessmen engaged in various sectors of economy, and media representatives from Azerbaijan and Russia.
A plenary session was also held within the forum. The addresses of the Presidents, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Vladimir Putin of Russia, were read out to the forum participants.
Addressing the session, Azerbaijan`s Deputy Prime Minister, Co-chair of the Azerbaijan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Shahin Mustafayev emphasized that Azerbaijan-Russia relations were based on mutual respect, good neighborhood and strategic partnership.
Shahin Mustafayev stressed the significance of the participation of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in 2018, First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in 2019, and the Prime Ministers in 2023 at the Azerbaijani-Russian Interregional Forum for both countries.
The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted Russia`s status as one of Azerbaijan`s key trade partners and its leading destination for non-oil product exports.
“In 2023, the trade turnover with Russia increased by 17.5 percent, reaching $ 4.4 bln. The total volume of bilateral cargo transportation between the two countries grew by more than 11 percent last year. The International North-South Transport Corridor aims to facilitate cargo transportation from South Asia to Europe through both countries, with the volume of cargo transportation through the corridor increasing by about 17 percent in 2023,” Mustafayev noted.
Highlighting the expansion of tourism opportunities between the two countries, he emphasized that over 625,000 tourists from Russia visited Azerbaijan last year.
“Azerbaijan has established pivotal relations with about 80 subjects of Russia in economic and humanitarian spheres. Documents on mutual activity in economic, trade, scientific, technical and cultural domains have been signed with 20 subjects,” Mustafayev added.
During the meeting, Azerbaijan`s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk exchanged views on the implementation of joint projects between the two countries, deepening interregional cooperation and other topical issues.
The plenary session was attended by First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Andrey Yatskin, First Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Huseynli, Chairman of Azerbaijan`s State Tourism Agency Fuad Naghiyev and other dignitaries.
