Azerbaijan’s ambassador hails ties with Kingdom on national day

AMMAN — Jordan was among the first countries that recognised Azerbaijan’s independence on September 28, 1991, which was followed by launching diplomatic relations that opened “wide” prospects for cooperation, Azeri Ambassador to Jordan Ildar Salimov has said.

In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on the occasion of Azerbaijan’s national day on Saturday, he said the late King Hussein and national leader Heydar Aliyev laid “solid” foundations for bilateral relations and outlined paths for their development.

These relations have witnessed, during the past 18 years, a new phase of growth and development at a high pace by exchanging official delegations’ visits aimed at exchanging views on ways to develop cooperation in various fields, notably at trade, economic, investment, tourism and cultural levels.

The envoy noted that His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Azerbaijan in September 2019 gave a strong momentum to developing these relations.

On economic cooperation, he said that the two countries have good opportunities to take mutual cooperation towards a “promising future”, adding that there is an appropriate legal base consisting of more than 40 official documents, in addition to the activity of the joint government committee, which is scheduled to hold its 6th meeting in Baku later this year.

An economic delegation from the Small Business Development Agency of Azerbaijan recently visited Amman, where a number of memoranda of cooperation and understanding were signed with Jordanian authorities, he noted.

In addition, he added that the two sides, during the discussions, agreed to speed up the formulation of the joint business council, adding that the embassy is interested and working on providing a “fertile ground for establishing direct Azeri and Jordanian economic and trade relations”.

The diplomat also noted the two countries have “remarkable” cooperation opportunities in the tourism field, due to the presence of common cultural and historical values, to attract tourists reciprocally.

He said that Azerbaijan is negotiating with relevant Jordanian authorities to resume direct connection, which would contribute to increasing tourist visits mutually.