Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has invited Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to pay an official visit to the Czech Republic.

Axar.az reports that, PM Babis made the statements on his Facebook account.

"In January, at a conference in Davos, I promised President Alijev that my first trip outside the European Union would lead to Azerbaijan, and I am glad I could keep that and accept the invitation to his residence in Gabala.

Thank you for the friendly and especially very concrete negotiations, strong ties between our countries and the potential for business cooperation is huge. Mutual trade exchange was 42 billion last year and the dominant part consisted mainly the deliveries of Azerbaijani oil to the Czech Republic. President Alijev and I agreed that we want to cooperate in other areas, we are very interested in a long-term contract for gas supply, that's why CEZ representatives are also here with us, and I believe that we will succeed. Mr. President Alijev proposed the creation of an intergovernmental economic commission, which will address mainly energy and industrial cooperation. On our side it will be led by Karel Havlicek and on Azerbaijan's side, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov.

We also dealt with other concrete projects, for example the development of Karlovy Vary Airport or cooperation with Czech companies who value it very much, and for example Czech armament companies are significant suppliers here. That is why we continue today at the Azerbaijani-Czech Business Forum, which is attended by 77 Azerbaijani representatives and 50 representatives of Czech companies.

I certainly want to develop the relations of our countries further, and that's why I gladly invited President Ilham Alijev and his lady to the Czech Republic.

It was an honor for me and I look forward to further cooperation," he stated.