Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has delivered a speech at the 37th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the GUAM.

Axar.az informs that Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan at 37th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the GUAM.

"It is the first physical meeting of the GUAM Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA) since the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 and I am very pleased to join it. I express my appreciation to the Georgian Chairmanship for arranging this important meeting. When countries as close as ours get together, we always look for operations and opportunities to do more, and today will be no exception.

As a regional organization, GUAM provides an important platform to build sustainable peace and development. Our cooperation is based on shared commitment and respect to the universally recognized rules and principles of international law, mutual trust, and respect for each other’s interests. These have enabled us to register important achievements across a wide range of areas, including trade and economic cooperation and people-to-people exchange.

In 2021, under the Georgian chairmanship, we have developed serious efforts to further advance our interaction in a coordinated, action-oriented, and forward-looking manner. I believe our cooperation can further develop by strengthening the project-oriented dimension of activities. It is necessary to continue focusing primarily on joint economic projects in spheres like trade, transportation, ICT, and tourism, as they will gain new opportunities for cooperation in the post-pandemic period.

As for the sectoral cooperation, I am pleased to inform that we are finalizing internal procedures necessary for signing the “Protocol on regulations determining the country of origin of goods” and the GUAM Consular Convention.

Azerbaijan remains a strong supporter of enhanced cooperation in the framework of “GUAM+” format aimed at ensuring peace, security, stability, and prosperity at both regional and inter-regional levels. Azerbaijan welcomes GUAM-Israel Joint Declaration, which was planned to be signed today. We have strong relations with our partners, but extra effort is needed to bolster cooperation with all our partners, including by revising the cooperation agendas with the other partners and designing our work based on common priorities.