Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the 4th Azerbaijan-Greece business forum

Dear Mr President!

Distinguished guests!

The Greece-Azerbaijan business forum is being held today, and the president of Greece is present here. I sincerely welcome Greek President Mr Papoulias in Azerbaijan once again.

The Greek president started an official visit to Azerbaijan yesterday. I can say that the visit has been very successful. The negotiations we held yesterday and the documents we signed will contribute to the development of relations between the two countries in the future. Relations between Greece and Azerbaijan are at a higher level. The president's visit and my visit to Greece in 2009 show the high level of political relations.

At the same time, there are plenty of issues of mutual interests in the economic sphere, and the holding of this business forum is a graphic example of this. I can say that this is not the first time that Greek and Azerbaijani business people have held a joint meeting. A business forum was held in Greece in 2009. Such meetings were also held in the previous period. That's to say this goes to show that there are enough mutual interests, and I reckon that the active participation of Greek businessmen in this forum is a great indicator in itself.

A joint intergovernmental commission is working to deepen economic cooperation. This commission holds meetings and conferences from time to time and finds ways of increasing economic cooperation. We want the economic relations between our countries to be multifaceted. These issues were discussed during the president's visit, and I am sure that businessmen will also contribute to the development of our economic relations.

I would like to highlight agriculture as one of fields of interest. Greece has extensive experience in this sphere. If we take into account that our countries have similar natural conditions and climate, Greece's achievements in the sphere of agriculture are very interesting to us. We are paying great attention to agriculture and the country's task is to ensure Azerbaijan's food security fully by means of domestic resources.

Recently, appropriate instructions were issued to start work on using renewable types of energy in Azerbaijan. This sphere is well-developed in Greece and we would be interested in benefiting from its experience. I believe that it is possible to establish mutually beneficial economic relations in the fields of information and communication technology, tourism, transport and construction.

I would like to highlight cooperation in the energy and oil and gas spheres. Azerbaijan and Greece have been cooperating in this sphere for so many years. Azerbaijan started supplying its gas to Greece in 2007. According to the memorandum that was signed yesterday, these relations will expand even more in the future. It is necessary to solve the issue of increasing the volume of natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Greece. In the future, Greece is ready to offer its infrastructure as a transit country for the transportation of Azerbaijani gas. Azerbaijan transports its fuel resources to Greece. That's to say cooperation in this field has yielded good results. Both parties are reliable partners and our interests totally coincide.

In order to fully realize our gas potential, we should access new markets and strengthen our position on traditional markets. I believe that in order to solve issues of Europe's energy security, Azerbaijan's resources can play their role, and in connection with this issue, the European Union and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum and a declaration earlier this year. Azerbaijan has large gas reserves. The proven reserves are 2.2 trillion cubic metres. This is the minimum figure. We believe that the real figure will be higher. I am sure that this will be proved by exploration work to be carried out in the future. At present, Azerbaijan's gas extraction is 28 billion cubic metres. This is a big figure in itself. If we take into account that our domestic demand is about 10-11 billion cubic metres, there are enough opportunities for export. Considering that tens of billions of dollars will be invested in the future, gas extraction will seriously increase.

We invite Greek companies to Azerbaijan, and I am very happy that they have accepted our invitation. There are good conditions for business and a good investment environment in Azerbaijan, and foreign investments are protected by the state. For the volume of direct per capita investment, Azerbaijan is, as always, at the forefront in the post-Soviet area. Foreign and local businessmen are benefiting from the situation we have created for investors. Last year alone, 15.5 billion dollars were invested in the country's economy. 54 per cent of this is domestic and 46 per cent foreign investments. This shows that even during the economic and financial crisis in the world, foreign investors were interested in investing in Azerbaijan.

The country's economy is developing very quickly. Over the past seven years, the gross domestic product and industrial production has increased threefold. More than 900,000 new jobs have been opened in our country. Serious steps were taken to diversify the economy and thus, the country's sustainable development was ensured. I would like to highlight 2009-2010, because these years will remain as years of financial and economic crisis in history. Despite that, in 2009-2010, the Azerbaijani economy grew by 14 per cent, and we observed a growth in the first quarter of this year.

Azerbaijani companies are entering foreign markets. This is our state policy and this initiative was put forward by the state. I am pleased that our companies have joined it. Both our state and private companies have started investing abroad. The prerequisite for investment abroad is, of course, political relations between these countries and Azerbaijan. Greece is our friend. Our relations are at a high level. The president's visit increases this friendship, and in this case, all conditions are right for Azerbaijani companies to invest in Greece.

I think that all these issues will be discussed during the business forum. I would like to say once again that we will create all conditions for Greek companies to do business in Azerbaijan and at the same time, Azerbaijani companies will also benefit from Greece's possibilities.

Mr President, I welcome you and your delegation in Azerbaijan once again. Indeed, your visit to our country has turned into a milestone in the development of our relations and will give a strong impetus to our relations - both in political, economic and cultural relations and in relations between people. That's to say we see only positive tendencies in all these spheres, and I am sure that these tendencies will get even stronger after your visit.

I greet you in Azerbaijan once again. Welcome!