Deputy PM Birchall tells Baku gov't Azerbaijan, a valuable strategic partner of Romania

The Republic of Azerbaijan is a valuable strategic partner of Romania, one of the most significant economic partners in the region, the Romanian Deputy Prime minister Ana Birchall told in a message she conveyed to this Asian country on behalf of the Romanian Prime minister Viorica Dancila, a release sent to AGERPRES on Sunday reads. On a working visit Thursday through Sunday to Azerbaijan, Deputy PM Ana Birchall has represented Romania at the 7th edition of the Baku Global Forum, organised by the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre and on the sidelines of the forum, she had a series of meetings with Azerbaijani high officials among whom the president Ilham Aliyev. This year's forum main theme was "New external policy" and it counted among its attendees former and current international political leaders. In the message presented by Ana Birchall on behalf of PM Viorica Dancila, the Romanian dignitary stressed the importance of the Baku Forum, that has become a debate platform extremely useful from the outlook of the current challenges at European and international level, the said release adds. "The development of cooperation in the field of connectivity between Romania and the Republic of Azerbaijan, through the capitalization of the existing opportunities in regional plan, included, is a joint target of the two countries. In a period of strategic repositioning, the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be the promoter of an authentic political dialogue with the neighbouring countries," the message says. In her intervention at the session dedicated to the Western Balkans, the Romanian high dignitary highlighted the importance Romania is giving to this region, from the enlargement perspective in particular. "During the presidency of the EU Council, Romania will continue to plead for the keeping of the EU enlargement's open doors," Ana Birchall said in the above-mentioned session, on the sidelines of the Baku Global Forum. According to the Romanian Executive, the working visit's agenda included meetings with the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Foreign Affairs minister Elmar Mammadyarov, and the Labour minister, and the co-chair of the Azerbaijani side in the Romania-Azerbaijan joint intergovernmental economic and technical-scientific cooperation Committee Sahil Babayev. Talks focused on the current and future stage of the bilateral relationship, in context of celebrating this year of the 10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Azerbaijan, as well as on the current topics of the regional and global agenda, in context of the anniversary in May 2019 of 10 years since the Eastern Partnership's setting up, included. During her talk with president Ilham Aliyev, Deputy PM Ana Birchall stressed the importance to boosting the economic cooperation, with an accent on capitalising on the opportunities existing in the regional plan in transports, including the perspective of transposing in reality the project of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea goods transport road, the release reads. The working visit to Baku was also an opportunity to mark 10 years since the Romania-Azerbaijan Strategic Partnership was established, on the sidelines of which a centre of Romanian language was inaugurated within the Linguistic University in Baku. "Romania was one of the first countries that have recognised the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the first EU member state that has concluded a strategic partnership with Baku, the Romanian-Azerbaijani relationship knowing positive outcome lately, in the economic plan, especially," Ana Birchall said, as quoted in the release. Moreover, in context was recalled the organising of the future session of the Joint intergovernmental economic and technical-scientific cooperation Committee, along the possibility to staging a joint business forum.AGERPRES(RO - editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author, editor: Maria Voican)