12:36

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Lord Anas Sarwar, Minister of State for Trade at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Co-Chair of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission, on October 6.

Axar.az reports that Lord Anas Sarwar presented the head of state with a letter from Andy Burnham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, emphasizing that the Prime Minister attaches great importance to the dynamically developing long-term cooperation with Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the letter.

Lord Anas Sarwar expressed the UK's intention to expand cooperation with Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that active cooperation has developed between Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom, noting that the two countries have been close partners since Azerbaijan restored its independence.

During the conversation, they fondly recalled the visit of UK Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence Lord Vernon Coaker to Azerbaijan a few days ago. The increasing number of official visits from the UK to Azerbaijan at various levels in recent times was assessed as an indicator of the strategic importance of bilateral relations.

The sides highlighted the significance of the 8th meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on trade and economic cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, held in Baku, noting that it created a good opportunity to discuss issues across many sectors on the economic agenda.

During the meeting, the sides discussed prospects for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy, trade and the economy, business, security, the defense industry, data centers, artificial intelligence, agriculture, education, and other areas.