BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 26. The current state
and prospects for the development of Azerbaijan-Italy strategic
partnership relations were discussed.


This was reported by the press service of the Azerbaijani
MFA.


According to the MFA, the issues were outlined during a phone
conversation between Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs
Jeyhun Bayramov and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani on
June 26.


The ministers expressed satisfaction with the increasingly
active nature of the high-level political dialogue between the two
countries. In this context, they highlighted that Italian President
Sergio Mattarella’s state visit to Azerbaijan last autumn, the
meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation
held in January this year, as well as the visit of Italian Prime
Minister Giorgia Meloni to Azerbaijan in May, demonstrated the
strategic nature of Azerbaijan-Italy relations and the dynamic
development of cooperation based on mutual trust.


The sides stressed the importance of maintaining political
dialogue and mutual visits in the coming period, as well as further
expanding cooperation in economic and trade relations, energy,
transport, industry, investment, education and other areas. In this
regard, they noted that the Azerbaijan-Italy Business Forum,
scheduled to take place this autumn, will serve as an important
platform for deepening bilateral economic partnership.


The ministers also emphasised the significance of the conference
to be organised in September this year in partnership with The
European House – Ambrosetti for the development of Azerbaijan-Italy
economic and political dialogue.


The sides expressed satisfaction with successful cooperation in
the energy sector, highlighting that cooperation between SOCAR and
Italy’s Italiana Petroli (IP), including the acquisition of the
company, represents one of the key areas of bilateral economic
relations. They also underlined the importance of expanding
mutually beneficial economic projects and exploring new areas of
cooperation.


During the phone conversation, the parties also exchanged views
on the post-conflict peace agenda in the region, the situation in
the Middle East and other regional security issues.