President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili, who is on a visit to the country.

Welcoming the Georgian Prime Minister, President Ilham Aliyev said:

-Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to Azerbaijan. I am very glad to see you. I am sure the visit will be very successful, and we will strengthen our brotherly relations. Relations between our peoples are based on the long history, centuries of history of good neighborhood and friendship. I think that this is a very good basis for our current relationship development which demonstrates very big dynamic. It actually covers many areas. I am very glad that you are visiting us. I wish you good health. I know that you recently have had the coronavirus. I am very glad that you are totally recovered. That was the reason for a little bit delay of your visit to Azerbaijan. We have very good history of implementation of joint projects, like energy projects, transportation projects and these projects have changed the map of the region, political, economic, transportation and energy map. Without strong partnership between our countries the implementation of this project wouldn’t have been possible. Last day of the last year was the last day of the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project which has a tremendous importance for general development, for stability, predictability, cooperation not only in the region of Caucasus but in a broader Eurasian region. Without our cooperation again, that wouldn’t have been possible. So, I am very grateful to Georgian government for constant support in implementation of this important project. All other initiatives which we launched together have a good success story. I am sure in the future will be the same. I just look at some data so that Azerbaijan continues to be one of the biggest investors in Georgia’s economy. That’s also a good sign of the reforms, which your government is implementing in creating a very positive and friendly investment climate. I know that many more Azerbaijani companies are willing to work in your country. I am sure that will happen. For today we will, of course, review what has been achieved and plan our future steps. Wish you all the best and once again, welcome.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili: Thank you Mr. President for receiving me. It’s a great pleasure and honor to see you again in Baku. As you mentioned, because of my coronavirus we had to postpone our visit. But I am glad that we are here today in Baku. You mentioned that we have excellent relationship and our relationship counts centuries. And I want to repeat the words of your father who once said in Tbilisi that the destiny designated and actually we are lucky that we are neighbors. Georgian and Azerbaijani people are neighbors. So, this is our destiny and we are so interlinked and interdependent to each other. As you mentioned, we have executed some of the most important historic projects together. Therefore, we are absolutely determined and motivated to continue to implement even more projects together that will strengthen our relationship and brotherhood. So, once again, I want to thank you for receiving my delegation here in Baku and I would like to take this opportunity and invite you to visit us in Tbilisi at your convenience. Thank you very much.

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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili then had a working dinner.