An influential Egyptian English-language newspaper Al-Ahram has published an extensive interview with Azerbaijani Ambassador to the country Elkhan Polukhov.
In his article, Ambassador Elkhan Polukhov noted that the bilateral high-level presidential visits demonstrate the two countries' interest in enhancing communication and cooperation.
In his response to the reporters’ question regarding the latest visit of President Ilham Aliyev too Egypt, the Azerbaijani diplomat said: “In just one and a half years, we had two official high-level visits. In January 2023, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi visited Azerbaijan, and just recently, President Aliyev visited Egypt for the second time. This demonstrates that both countries are turning and opening a unique new page in bilateral relations. Both presidents made very historical statements during this last visit when the president of Azerbaijan openly stated that Azerbaijan and Egypt enjoy full understanding on practically all issues of the international agenda. From our perspective, it was not just a visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Egypt; it had a regional dimension in the Middle East, South Caucasus, and the wider region.”
Ambassador Polukhov mentioned that President Ilham Aliyev also visited Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, where he had a meeting with the grand imam of Al-Azhar.
Speaking about the documents signed between the two friendly countries, the ambassador said: “We signed seven documents; five of them are trade and business-oriented. This demonstrates that with full comfort of cooperation in the political sphere, now we concentrate more on the economic side. We also signed an MoU between the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation and the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan on exchanging expertise.
Moreover, we made a joint action plan between the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) of Egypt and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) of Azerbaijan for 2024-2025.”
“Azerbaijan and Egypt are leading countries in the world and their regions. Both countries have a similarity in their past. Our cooperation within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and other international organizations shows that we have a full understanding of concerns regionally and globally,” the diplomat underlined.
“President El-Sisi also underlined the importance of building the peace process in the South Caucasus after ending the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict,” Elkhan Polukhov mentioned.
“Since our independence at the beginning of the 90s, Azerbaijan has built a unique relationship with the Arab world. The country has always paid great attention to cooperation with the Arab world and the Islamic Ummah. We always felt support from the majority of Arab countries for the justified position of Azerbaijan in the former Armenian-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the diplomat underlined.
Touching upon the economic potential and trade between the two countries, the ambassador stated: “There is a huge economic potential. According to our statistics in 2023, the trade reached a little over 13 million US dollars. We expect some increase in 2024. Both presidents highlighted that our communications need to be extended and intensified in areas such as pharmaceuticals, logistics, transportation, construction, oil and gas, green energy, and the exchange of expertise, knowledge, and technologies. President Aliyev highlighted the new opportunities that opened recently for the transportation of goods from Egypt or North Africa to Central Asia and the western part of China through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.”
Responding to the reporter's question regarding Azerbaijan’s hosting the COP29 and the cooperation with Egypt in this aspect, Ambassador Polukhov said: “We are very thankful to the Egyptian government for all the expertise, knowledge, and support it provides in this regard.
President El-Sisi has received an invitation from our president to visit Baku this November and participate in COP29. The grand imam of Al-Azhar also confirmed his participation.
It is necessary to mention that we go with clear messages and ideas and demonstrate that we can handle such a big event.
Furthermore, we are organizing this event from a position that COP29 needs to have real outcomes, with a clear mechanism of implementation for many initiatives that were raised during COP27 and COP28.”
