Speech by Ilham Aliyev at the opening of the five-star Four Seasons Hotel in Baku

- Dear friends, I want to congratulate you on the opening of the Four Seasons Baku and wish the hotel every success.

The opening of the Four Seasons Hotel in Azerbaijan is a major event.

Four Seasons is a world-famous chain of hotels and a symbol of quality. I am very pleased that the hotel meets the highest standards both in terms of appearance and interior design. I think that Four Seasons will stand out for its beauty among other hotels. I can say that Four Seasons is the most beautiful hotel in Azerbaijan now.

The hotel is a work of art and architecture. The interior design pleases the eye. Everything is done with great taste and love here. The rooms are very comfortable. There are spacious meeting rooms, recreation areas, restaurants, bars. In other words, the level available here sets the bar high.

We often approach the creative work ongoing in Azerbaijan from European and international angles. But the buildings currently under construction in Azerbaijan have created the Azerbaijani standard. The Four Seasons Baku Hotel meets world standards, Azerbaijani standards. And I am very glad about that.

The location of the hotel is also very nice. It is one of the central locations of our city – the Azneft Square. On one side of the hotel there is the ancient Old City. The Old City is our historical heritage. On the other side there is a modern boulevard. So there are all the conditions for the leisure of the guests, so that they can become acquainted with our city.

The hotel's architecture also matches the architecture of ancient Baku. This hotel suits Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan is opening its arms to the Four Seasons hotel chain. I am very glad that such a great piece of art and architecture is located in Baku, in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan deserves that.

People coming to Azerbaijan will see the beauty of our city and at the same time relax at this beautiful hotel.

The number of hotels in our country is always growing. Over the past year alone several internationally renowned hotel chains have opened their hotels in Azerbaijan. Their mere enumeration would indicate that Baku is indeed becoming an international center. The opening, over the course of one year or 18 months, of Kempinski, Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott, Jumeirah and, finally, Four Seasons hotels, and the opening of the Fairmont hotel due in the coming months is evidence not only of Azerbaijan’s tremendous tourism potential but also its overall development. I know of no other city where the world's leading hotel chains would open their hotels in such a short time. This is evidence of their confidence in Azerbaijan. It is evidence of investor confidence in the present and the future of Azerbaijan. It is evidence of the rapid development of our city.

Today, Baku, as is the case in the most beautiful cities around of the world, has the infrastructure, services, hotels, restaurants, promenades.

Baku is turning into a great city to live in. The creative and improvement work for the sake of the beauty of Baku is conducted with great care, precision, sensitivity and taste. We are modernizing our city, while preserving its historical appearance. We are opening new places. At one time, that part of the boulevard used to be full of outdated shipyards.

Those places were closed to people. But look what opportunities have been created after the old factories were relocated and a new boulevard created! We have created special cycle lanes and promenades.

Historically, the length of the boulevard was 3.5 kilometers. And now, together with the coastal strip on the Flag Square, the boulevard is 14 kilometers long. This is an indication of great work done. I am very happy that our city is becoming prettier and developing. All the processes taking place in Azerbaijan meet modern standards.

As President, I am very pleased with the development of this sector of our economy. The development of the non-oil economy, the service sector shows the sustainable development of our country. It is no coincidence that our non-oil economy grew by more than 10 per cent in the first six months of this year. The creation of such beautiful hotels is very important for attracting tourists to Baku. There are already all the conditions for entertaining people at the highest level. If we consider that our foreign relations are also expanding, the fact that a growing number of countries want to be our partners and Baku hosts various international events practically every week, I am sure that the operation of this hotel will be very successful. It is already the leader, a recognized hotel brand. This is really a great and historic event. You, the staff of Four Seasons, will know very well that this hotel chain is number one brand in the world.

I am very pleased that the majority of the people working here are citizens of Azerbaijan. You are the citizens of Azerbaijan who have recently been trained and worked at Four Seasons in other cities and have now returned to your homeland.

You are attached to Azerbaijan by your love of the country. Things in your country, in our homeland are progressing so fast that any high-level issue may be resolved here. One of the features that distinguish us, the Azerbaijanis, is the fact that we are attached to our country. We have to create conditions at home for the vast majority of our compatriots living abroad to come to Azerbaijan. We are sending our youngsters to study abroad now. They also live with the love of the country and want to return home. But there must be proper conditions here. Azerbaijan must have the conditions for all the Azerbaijanis living in the world to be proud of their country. And this is a reality.

I sincerely salute you. I am confident that the hotel will be very successful. I want to reiterate that the opening of Four Seasons in Azerbaijan is not an ordinary event. It is an indication of our country’s confident and successful development.

If our country didn’t develop at such a pace – both you and I know that – Four Seasons would never have opened a hotel here. So this event has a great symbolic meaning and importance.

I congratulate all of you and wish you good health and every success. Thank you.