BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/10/2006

Belarus, Azerbaijan have no areas forbidden for cooperation

MINSK, October 17 (Itar-Tass) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday.

Belarus is ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan in any spheres, Lukashenko said, adding, "Belarus has no forbidden subjects in the relations with Azerbaijan and other fraternal countries."

Lukashenko stressed that the two presidents have met "at the moment, when bilateral trade is annually growing by 85 percent."

In his words, this dynamics is good, but the volume [of trade] is so far small.

"Trade is expected to grow significantly, especially after your official visit," Lukashenko said. He said he likes Ilham Aliyev, who reminds him of Aliyev's father (late Azerbaijani president Heydar Aliyev).

The Azerbaijani leader said, in turn, that he was eager to visit Belarus and this is his first-ever visit to this country.

Aliyev said that the countries have a great potential for the development of bilateral relations and good cooperation dynamics.

"You enjoy support of Belarus' population. This helps you to make the reforms," Aliyev said. He stressed that the policy of the Belarussian president is socially oriented. "Belarus is leading by living standards among the CIS countries," Aliyev added.

In his words, Azerbaijan is interested in stepping up economic contacts with Belarus.

"We have already done very much for this and the official visit, I'm sure, opens new prospects," Aliyev said.

He invited Lukashenko to make an official visit Azerbaijan.

"We view Belarus as a friend and a partner," Aliyev added.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=10896904&PageNum=0