Azerbaijani-Lithuanian business forum held in Vilnius

On May 22, an Azerbaijani-Lithuanian business forum was held in Vilnius with the participation of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda.

Report informs that the heads of state spoke at the business forum.

Speech by President Gitanas Nausėda

- Your Excellency the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Dear ministers, representatives of the business community, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I am glad to welcome numerous businessmen from Azerbaijan and their Lithuanian colleagues to Vilnius. I hope that today's discussions will help our countries to deepen ties and develop new partnerships.

Lithuania and Vilnius are celebrating their 700th anniversary this year. The first days of the existence of our capital were remembered by the invitations sent by the ruler of Lithuania Gediminas to foreign leaders, merchants, artisans from various social strata and religions. Since then, Lithuania has been on an ambitious path to carry out joint activities with others, to acquire and develop new ideas.

As part of this history, the ancient ancestors of the Azerbaijani people received Lithuanian envoys back in the 15th century. Today we can count on a healthy state of our bilateral relations. Azerbaijan is an important partner of Lithuania and we are interested in finding mutually beneficial opportunities. We consider Azerbaijan to be an emerging economic force with a gigantic energy potential and striving for diversification. Various sectors of the Azerbaijani economy, such as information technology, logistics, manufacturing, advanced food processing, renewable energy, attract Lithuanian businessmen. That's how many questions we can discuss. Lithuania has already proved its ability to easily adapt to new conditions and use them to its advantage. We rely on a strong industrial tradition and an intelligent workforce. Our digital infrastructure is dynamic and accessible, one of the best in the entire European Union.

In 2020, during the global recession, Lithuania did not allow a negative change in the gross domestic product. This experience of a successful counter-cyclical economic policy has become an important experience that we use in the process of overcoming new global cataclysms. We are currently reviewing the plans of the European Union to support the industrial production of "green" technologies. New opportunities will be provided by revolutionary and waste-free production. This will benefit the Lithuanian economy. The development of purely zero-waste economies can also bring the economies of Lithuania and Azerbaijan even closer together. Our current self-confidence has been bolstered by the tremendous energy transition process of the last ten years. This allowed Lithuania to become the first European country to completely stop receiving energy, including oil, electricity and natural gas, from Russia. Under the current economic model, energy at a fixed low cost is generated from renewable energy sources both onshore and offshore. This will greatly enhance the competitiveness of our manufacturing and service sectors. Azerbaijani entrepreneurs can join this process to benefit from it.

I can note with satisfaction that the first economic forum was held in Baku last year. There I was lucky to open a business forum together with His Excellency the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Today, I really believe that our countries need to establish ties with each other not only in the economic sphere, but also in the field of science, education and culture. We have a wide road ahead of us. Let this business forum be another step in the right direction.

I would like to express special gratitude to the Lithuanian Litfood Agency, the Innovation Agency, the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation - AZPROMO, and all other participating organizations for organizing this business forum. I wish you all interesting and useful discussions. Thank you.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

-Dear President Nauseda,

Ladies and gentlemen.

First of all, I would like to once again thank Mr. President for his hospitality. I am very happy to return to your beautiful country and have the opportunity to have a broad exchange of views with Mr. President on our bilateral and regional issues, as well as on the economic agenda. And the fact that within one year the leaders of the countries are speaking at the business forum for the second time testifies to the great importance that we attach to business contacts between our countries and business circles.

I think that with President Nauseda we have laid a very solid foundation for our cooperation, we have established a very active political dialogue. As I said, we met last May in Baku, then in January of this year in Davos and now in Vilnius. So that really shows the dynamism of our collaboration. 

source: report.az