The Azerbaijani government mission, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Yalchin Rafiyev, paid a visit to Somalia.

Axar.az reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed about this.

It was noted that the purpose of the visit is to expand bilateral political, economic, humanitarian, and other cooperation between Azerbaijan and Somalia, as well as to continue the high-level cooperation relations existing within the framework of international organizations.

During the visit, the delegation met with Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia Salah Ahmed Jama, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ahmed Moallim Figi, Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Dahir Shire Mohammed, Minister of Defense Abdulqadir Mohammed Nur Jama, Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic Development Mahmud Beenebeene, Minister of Education, Culture and Higher Education Farah Abdulqadir Mohammed, Director of the National Identification and Registration Authority, as well as senior officials of the Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Pasture Management, and a familiarization visit was organized to the Somali representative office of the Turkish Education Foundation.

During the meetings, it was noted that contacts between the countries have intensified in recent years and that this plays a useful role in discussing cooperation prospects. It was also emphasized that there is potential for the development of cooperation in several areas, including oil and gas, green energy, agriculture, fisheries, humanitarian and education, and the importance of creating a bilateral legal and contractual framework in relevant areas.

As part of the visit, the first meeting of political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia was also held. The political consultations were chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yalchin Rafiyev from the Azerbaijani side and by State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ali Muhammad Omar Balad from the Somali side. During the political consultations, bilateral political and economic issues, cooperation within the UN, Non-Aligned Movement, OIC, and other international organizations were discussed.

The government mission included representatives of the Ministries of Defense, Defense Industry, Energy, Science and Education, Economy, Agriculture of Azerbaijan, and the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.