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President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa on June 27.

Axar.az reports that our head of state said that the visit of the president of the Asian Development Bank to our regions is a good opportunity for obtaining more information about the development processes taking place in our country and for continuing close cooperation relations between Azerbaijan and this bank.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his gratitude for the Bank's support to the development of areas of Azerbaijan's economy that are important for both our country and regional cooperation.

The head of state highly appreciated the unequivocal support of the Asian Development Bank in this matter, especially when there were some financial delays by European financial institutions for the projects of transporting Azerbaijani natural gas. In this regard, the President of Azerbaijan recalled that, as he said earlier, while our country supplies Europe with gas, European banks did not show readiness to provide financing, but the Asian Development Bank did.

President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that as our country develops, we face new goals and challenges regarding the creation of a strong economic connection with neighboring Caspian countries and other regions. In this regard, the head of state emphasized the importance of defining new directions in order to continue the effective cooperation with the Asian Development Bank.

Expressing his gratitude for the kind words, Masatsugu Asakawa expressed his satisfaction to personally meet the head of our state on the 25th anniversary of the partnership between Azerbaijan and the Asian Development Bank.

The guest also recalled with pleasure the meeting in video conference format in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He congratulated the head of our state on his victory in the presidential elections and expressed his hope that the cooperation between the Asian Development Bank and our country will continue successfully in the direction of the realization of the strategic priorities facing Azerbaijan in the future.

During the conversation, issues of production and export of green energy were touched upon.

The head of state noted the importance of the creation of green energy zones in Azerbaijan, as well as the construction of hydroelectric power plants in the territories freed from occupation, stated that up to 270 megawatts of hydropower potential has already been created in those territories, and said that the possibilities of increasing it to 500 megawatts are being discussed.

During the conversation, issues of cooperation related to the North-South railway project were touched upon, ideas were exchanged on the further expansion of the relations of the Central Asian states with Azerbaijan in the field of transport.