President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith delivered press statements on October 13.

The President of Azerbaijan made the statement first.

Statement by President Ilham Aliyev

– Honorable Mr. President, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, once again, Mr. President, I welcome you to Azerbaijan.

This is not our first meeting; we have met several times on the sidelines of international events, and I had invited you to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan. I am very grateful and glad that you accepted my invitation and are visiting Azerbaijan today. I am confident that this visit will have a very positive impact on our bilateral relations and that our bilateral cooperation will further deepen.

Today, during both our one-on-one and expanded meetings, many important issues were discussed, and concrete steps were identified. The Joint Statement adopted today essentially encompasses our future cooperation and outlines the primary areas of collaboration.

As for political relations, these ties have been developing successfully for many years. Diplomatic relations were established between our countries more than thirty years ago, and over these years, we have consistently demonstrated solidarity and mutual support within numerous international organizations. This remains true today, and I am confident it will continue to be so in the future.

Interparliamentary ties are also developing; friendship groups have been established in both countries, which in itself is a clear indicator. We cooperate successfully in this field both through international interparliamentary organizations and bilaterally. Our ruling parties also maintain close cooperation, and a relevant Memorandum of Understanding was signed several years ago.

In other words, relations at the political level are developing very successfully. We would like to see the same progress in the economic field as well. Today, during the exchange of views, both sides expressed the shared position that our current trade turnover does not reflect either our potential or our intent.

Therefore, relevant instructions were given to intensify cooperation in the economic sphere, including efforts to increase trade turnover. I hope that the Laos–Azerbaijan Business Forum to be held in Baku will be an important step in this direction. An exchange of information is planned, and I also informed Mr. President that if the Lao side presents concrete projects to Azerbaijani investors, we can examine these projects with great interest.

Azerbaijan’s investment abroad is expanding year by year. Our financial capacity is taken into account, while the geographical reach of our investments is also broadening. Investments worth billions of dollars demonstrate our capabilities while simultaneously delivering immense benefits to the host country. New jobs are created, and new production sectors are established.

Therefore, we intend to apply the same approach to our bilateral cooperation, provided that specific projects are presented to us, as I have said.

During the conversation, it was noted that in Soviet times, more than two thousand Lao students studied in Azerbaijan. I proposed that we restore this tradition. A relevant scholarship mechanism has also been proposed for this purpose, and I am confident that in the coming years we will see more Lao students in Azerbaijan.

Unfortunately, we also share a serious problem, namely, landmines. Mr. President informed me that although several decades have passed since the war in Laos, people continue to suffer from landmines to this day, losing their lives and suffering injuries. I also noted that more than one million mines were laid in our territory as a result of Armenia’s occupation, and over the past five to six years, more than 400 Azerbaijanis have either lost their lives or sustained serious injuries. I believe that the exchange of experience could be beneficial in this area, while the introduction of new technologies and training programs are also of great importance.

Connectivity and transport were among the issues we discussed. Mr. President noted that railway connectivity projects with neighboring countries were being implemented and that, once completed, they could establish a direct link to the Trans-Caspian Transport Route.

For my part, I noted that all major transport and logistics projects in Azerbaijan had already been implemented. We are now focusing primarily on identifying new cargo sources, mobilizing cargo from new destinations, and increasing freight volumes. I hope that once all these projects under way on both sides are completed, the volume of freight transportation will also increase.

We also discussed opportunities for cooperation in energy, mining, agriculture, and other sectors. The shared view is that each of these areas can yield results if concrete steps are taken. In any case, we have the necessary opportunities and, most importantly, the mutual will to pursue them.

Laos is a friendly country for us. As I have said, our diplomatic relations, which have lasted for more than 30 years, have demonstrated this on numerous occasions. Mr. President’s official visit to Azerbaijan and his planned participation in the Summit on the 15th of this month further demonstrate this. I should also mention that Mr. President informed me that he had visited Azerbaijan back in the 1980s. However, this is the first official visit by a President of Laos to Azerbaijan in our history.

Mr. President, I would like to thank you once again for your visit and extend my very best wishes to you. Thank you.

x x x

Then, the President of Laos made the statement.

Statement by President Thongloun Sisoulith

- Thank you, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. I am deeply honored to meet with members of the Azerbaijani press here today. I thank you for your kind remarks.

Your remarks were comprehensive and covered everything we discussed during our meetings today, both in our tête-à-tête and at our expanded meeting, to enhance the traditional friendly relations and cooperation between our countries and to encompass even more areas in the future.

I have been well received by Your Excellency, Mr. President, here today. I would like to emphasize that cooperation and exchanges between our two countries and peoples did not begin only in recent years. They are based on traditional relations, as our country once hosted your former President Heydar Aliyev, who visited the Lao PDR during the time when he was the First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and a member of the Politburo. He attended the Fourth Congress of our party in 1986. We have very fond memories of Heydar Aliyev's outstanding speech and remarks at the 4th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, which left a very good impression on the Lao people. Today, I once again extend my sincere appreciation to the son of the President who laid the foundation for good relations with our people, His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev. President Ilham Aliyev is the successor to those traditional ties. The son of President Heydar Aliyev, the current President of Azerbaijan, sat across from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos, Thongsavanh Phomvihane. He is also the son of Laos's beloved former President Kaysone Phomvihane. This reflects the enhancement of our relations and the good results of my official visit today. I fully support your views regarding the memories of our meetings.

President Ilham Aliyev also emphasized that our traditionally good bilateral relations should be re-evaluated and that areas of cooperation should be further expanded beyond interparliamentary and political ties. We should explore further opportunities in the fields of the economy, trade, investment, people-to-people exchanges, tourism, and human resources development so that Laos has access to these sectors.

I truly believe that this official visit will create an opportunity to task the relevant institutions of our countries with discussing the results of the talks held at the level of heads of state in greater detail. We signed various documents here, including a Joint Statement, which symbolizes our cooperation. We are certain that in the future, Azerbaijani businesspeople will invest more in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. There will be more trade, more investment, more tourism, and more exchanges in terms of culture. I am very glad that Your Excellency noted that in the future, you will welcome more Lao students in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Re-evaluating the assistance provided to many students who studied here in the past and restoring the number of scholarships will also be extremely beneficial for our future generations.

We will also continue to explore and discuss many other areas. As part of this official visit, we will have the opportunity to meet with the Speaker of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan. We will encourage further cooperation between the legislative bodies of our countries. Of course, the governments will be the main driving force behind implementing the results of our meetings here today. I will also meet with the Prime Minister of Azerbaijan. I will propose to him that cooperation in relevant sectors be continued. I will send more ministers who can play an important role in expanding investment, education, energy, and other areas of cooperation to Azerbaijan so that detailed discussions can continue and our future cooperation can materialize.

Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to Your Excellency, the President of Azerbaijan, the Government, and the people for the warm welcome extended to me and my delegation. You are very hospitable, and this is a reflection of our brotherhood and friendship. Prior to this, I was in Baku 44 years ago. Today, I am here again. I witnessed the rapid development of Baku and Azerbaijan. Everything is new to my eyes. I could barely recognize the Azerbaijan I visited 44 years ago. Nevertheless, the Azerbaijani people have preserved the friendliness inherent in their culture and traditions. The Azerbaijani people remain as lovely as before. This has made a very pleasant impression on me.

Mr. President, thank you once again.