Baku: Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov held a telephone conversation today with Antonio Tajani, Italy’s Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to discuss the current state and future prospects of the Azerbaijan-Italy strategic partnership, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told APA. Both ministers hailed the intensive nature of the high-level political dialogue between the two countries. In this context, they emphasized that the state visit of Italian President Sergio Mattarella to Azerbaijan last autumn, the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in January this year, and the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Azerbaijan in May demonstrate the strategic nature of Azerbaijan-Italy relations and the dynamic development of cooperation based on mutual trust.
According to Azeri-Press Nws Aency, the sides noted the importance of continuing the political dialogue and mutual visits in the coming period, as well as further expanding cooperation in trade, the economy, energy, transport, industry, investment, education, and other areas. In this context, it was stated that the Azerbaijan-Italy Business Forum, planned for this fall, will serve as an important platform for deepening bilateral economic partnership.
The ministers highlighted the significance of the conference to be organized in September this year in partnership with ‘The European House – Ambrosetti’ for the development of Azerbaijan-Italy economic and political dialogue. The sides hailed the successful cooperation in the energy sector and emphasized that the cooperation between SOCAR and Italy’s Italiana Petroli, including the acquisition of the company, is one of the important directions of bilateral economic relations.
They highlighted the importance of expanding mutually beneficial projects in the economic field and exploring new cooperation opportunities. The conversation concluded with an exchange of views on regional security, including the post-conflict peace agenda in the South Caucasus and the ongoing situation in the Middle East.