BAKU, 29 November (BelTA) – The official visit of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to Azerbaijan is over. The aircraft with the Belarusian head of state on board left from Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport, BelTA informs.
Azerbaijan's First Deputy Prime Minister Yaqub Eyyubov and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalaf Khalafov saw the Belarusian leader off to the airport.
On 28 November Alexander Lukashenko held talks with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. The sides discussed the ways to expand mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, including trade and economic cooperation, concrete cooperation projects in agriculture, light and heavy industry, the enhancement of cultural and humanitarian ties.
The two leaders confirmed the mutual interest in the development of interstate cooperation in the entire spectrum of bilateral relations.
“You can rely on us as your closest friend. If we can be useful to you in any way, we will always come to help. You know well our capabilities. You are a great friend of Belarus,” Alexander Lukashenko said during the talks.
The participants of the talks agreed that the bilateral trade can be increased with a short period of time if the work is organized well. “We make no secret of the fact that our trade and economic cooperation has declined recently against the backdrop of the global crisis. Today we have agreed that we can reach $700 million in bilateral trade next year. This is almost twice as much as we had in our best year,” the head of state said.
After the talks the sides signed a package of documents on the development of cooperation. These include agreements in sport, education, agribusiness, an action plan to implement the social and economic development program till 2025, an agreement to establish interregional links between Grodno and Gabala District, and other documents.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev awarded the Order of Heydar Aliyev, the highest award of Azerbaijan, to Alexander Lukashenko.
On 29 November Alexander Lukashenko laid wreaths at the Tomb of Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev in the Alley of Honor in Baku and at the memorial in Martyrs' Lane.
After the official events the head of state visited the Heydar Aliyev Center which was founded in accordance with the decree of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and opened in 2012.
The center studies Heydar Aliyev's philosophy of the state development and ideology of Azerbaijan, the country's history, its language, cultural, national, and spiritual values.
Then Alexander Lukashenko met with Azerbaijan Prime Minister Artur Rasizade. They discussed the prospects of Belarus-Azerbaijan relations. The sides paid special attention to the implementation of arrangements which were reached during the official negotiations of the presidents of Belarus and Azerbaijan.
