French Ambassador: Energy sector still the most important in cooperation with Azerbaijan

Baku. 15 July. REPORT.AZ/ Baku has hosted an event dedicated to the National Day of France - the Bastille Day.

Report informs, speaking at the event the French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Aurelia Bouchez said that France and Azerbaijan are actively engaged in dialogue, she highly appreciated the projects with participation of Azerbaijan to ensure energy efficiency in Europe, including the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC).

She recalled that during the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Paris, the meeting of Presidents of the two countries, has emphasized the importance of reaching a stable agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement through negotiations. Recalling the recent statement of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, she noted that the French side expresses its condolences over the victims among civilians as a result of violation of the ceasefire.

French Ambassador said that the countries cooperate in a number of spheres, including transport, tourism, agriculture and etc. "At the same time, energy sector remains one of the most important in our bilateral cooperation." The fruitful and reliable cooperation between SOCAR and TOTAL has lasted for 20 years. This cooperation continues," she said.

French Ambassador also spoke about cooperation with Azerbaijan in humanitarian and educational spheres.

In turn, Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan Sahil Babayev congratulated the French side on the holiday on behalf of the Azerbaijani people. He noted that the multi-vector cooperation between Azerbaijan and France continues to develop actively, which is facilitated by mutual visits. According to him, up to the present time the countries have signed about 60 bilateral documents.

France is one of the largest trading partners of Azerbaijan. Thus, the commodity turnover between the countries in 2016 amounted to $ 644 million. In general, France's investments in Azerbaijan amounted to $ 2.2 billion.