President of Azerbaijan's Visit to Qatar Cements Strategic Partnership

The meeting between HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, set to take place tomorrow, reflects the commitment of both sides to develop bilateral relations.
It is the second state visit by Aliyev, and it looks to explore the scope for bilateral cooperation in light of the two countries' strategic partnership. The two leaders will also discuss investment opportunities in a number of fields.
The two-day visit is likely to see the signing of many agreements in a number of fields such as civil aviation, culture, sports, youth, and environment among many other. Around 30 business personality will accompany the Azerbaijani President on the visit. They are set to meet their Qatari counterparts to discuss enhancing their strategic partnership.
HH the Emir visited Azerbaijan in March 2016. During the visit, His Highness held talks with the President of Azerbaijan on enhancing bilateral ties. The two leaders also discussed developing bilateral cooperation, particularly in commerce, investment, energy, and culture. The visit crowned a long history of successful cooperation between the two countries. The two leaders also expressed their commitment to raising the level of cooperation in the economic fields to the political one. They agreed on the importance of capitalizing on great investment opportunities in energy, tourism, agriculture, technology, and transport. HH the Emir was present during the signing of a number of agreements and Memorandums of Understandings (MoU). The most notable of them was amending an agreement on lifting visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports from both countries. All Qatari citizens were allowed entry to Azerbaijan without an entry visa.
Bilateral ties reflect the understanding and cooperation the two countries have on the international and regional levels as well. The two sides coordinate their positions heavily in the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Azerbaijani officials praise Qatar's support of a just resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh region, where more than 20% of the land their remain under control of Armenian groups. The State of Qatar was also one of the first countries to recognize in 1991 the independence of Azerbaijan from the Soviet Union. 
The State of Qatar and the Republic of Azerbaijan enjoy deeply-rooted bilateral ties for more than 23 years, which were crowned by the establishment of a Joint Commission and the conclusion of 25 agreements, including 8 agreements during 2016 covering various sectors such as information technology, telecommunications as well as security and military sectors. 
A number of agreements on bilateral anti-drug coordination, police training, the exchange of information, emergencies and disasters were signed between the two countries, which aim to conclude more various agreements during the current visit of the President of Azerbaijan in other areas so as to enhance the strategic partnership between the two nations, which has been active in various fields such as energy, tourism, agriculture and others within the framework of a favorable environment in Azerbaijan to establish promising Qatari investments.
In the context of enhancing bilateral relations in the cultural field, a solid foundation for stronger cooperation was laid in 2004 and the Azeri capital of Baku was chosen as the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2009, where Qatar's participation in this celebration was distinguished.
In 2010, Azerbaijan took part in the activities of Doha Arab Capital of Culture while Doha hosted the Azerbaijani Cultural Days in the same year. 
Various heritage and musical events were also organized on the occasion of Azerbaijan Embassy's celebration of the National Day while a delegation from Azerbaijan will take part in the Silk Road Festival due to be held at the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) later.
 As part of the two sides 'keenness to boost joint cooperation and develop bilateral relations, the First Session of the Economic, Commercial and Technical Joint Committee between the Governments of the State of Qatar and the Republic of Azerbaijan wad held in Baku at the end of last year in implementation of an agreement signed in Baku in March 2016 to establish the Committee.
This Committee laid foundation for the development of bilateral relations in economic, trade, investment, industrial, energy, education, environment, agriculture, food, culture, youth and sports, tourism, civil aviation, transport and customs areas.
After 26 years of independence, Azerbaijan has become an incubator for investment, providing the necessary infrastructure in light of investment opportunities in the agricultural sectors, food production and processing, tourism, environment, technology and communications, alternative energy, production of building materials, chemical sector, lighting, and metallurgical engineering.
These sectors are a priority for foreign investors with respect to the non-oil sector especially with the establishment of an industrial zone in Azerbaijan.
The Azeri tourism sector has attracted a growing number of Qatari tourists, who were in the last year almost five times more than the previous years.
The diplomatic relation between both countries was established on Sept. 14, 1994 starting with the opening of the two embassies, Azerbaijani embassy in Doha and the Qatari embassy in Baku, in 2007. 
Azerbaijan is considered one of the republics to gain its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and in a short period of time was able to establish a democratic system. Its system is based on political diversity and leaped into applying the principles of a free market economy.
Azerbaijan's economy is the fastest growing economy in the Central Asia and the Caspian Sea region, and is has advanced in the recent years in the development of the gross domestic product. According to The World Bank Economy Ranking, it holds one of the strongest economies around the world due to the economy reform policy the country is adopting. 
Azerbaijan's petrochemical industry is one of the oldest and most advanced in the world, and owns an abundant stock of mineral resources such as iron, copper and aluminum, and is famous for cultivating all crops such as fruits, timber, tea,...etc. 
It is also one of the biggest countries exporting petrol and works as a starting point to transport petroleum from the Caspian Sea to Europe, and is a source of gas supply to Europe. It widely depends on its gas and petrol exports which negatively affected the country due to the oil prices which lead to devaluing its currency by 34% against the dollar in February 2015. 
In the recent period, Azerbaijan has linked between Europe and the Far East and it also hold the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to the shores of the Mediterranean in Turkey. 
A regional rail link, Baku–Tbilisi–Kars is being constructed to expand Azerbaijan's trade, economy and cultural cooperation with the rest of the world.
Azerbaijan is a member in many of respectable world wide organizations such as the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, it has also been granted a membership in the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO).
The Republic of Azerbaijan is 86 thousand square kilometers in area situated in south-eastern part of the Caucasian region, and shares borders with Iran, Georgia, Armenia, and Russia. Its population is 9 million with 3 million living in Baku, the capital. 

Source: QNA