Meeting with French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe

First Vice-president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva met, in the framework of her visit to France, tête-à-tête with the country’s Prime Minister Édouard Philippe.

Mehriban Aliyeva was greeted by French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe at the Matignon Palace. Then, a photo was taken.

Thereafter, Azerbaijan’s First Vice-president Mehriban Aliyeva and French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe had a tête-à-tête meeting.

The French Prime Minister noted the successfully advancing economic and political relations between the two countries, underscoring the existence of good perspectives for cooperation. Édouard Philippe emphasized that the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and French President Emmanuel Macron in July last year in the framework of the Azerbaijani President’s visit to France played a significant part in the advancement of bilateral relations between the countries, noting that Mehriban Aliyeva too has made important contribution to the development of bilateral relations. Mentioning Azerbaijan’s great economic potential, Édouard Philippe talked about the French companies operating in the oil and non-oil sectors of Azerbaijan, emphasizing that these companies needed to be more active in the Azerbaijani market.

Mehriban Aliyeva expressed satisfaction with the advancement of the relations between the two countries, noting this visit would significantly contribute to the advancement of bilateral cooperation. She brought to attention the great potential for cooperation in the economic field, 59 French companies operating in Azerbaijan, calling on French companies to be more active in Azerbaijan. Talking about economic development processes in Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva noted that Azerbaijan occupied the 25th place on the World Bank’s “Doing Business” Report, having advanced 32 steps forward, being among the 10 most reformist countries in the world. She emphasized the significance of holding an assembly of the intergovernmental commission. While talking about cooperation in the humanitarian, cultural and research fields, Mehriban Aliyeva noted that there was great interest towards the French language and literature in Azerbaijan, and French is being taught in over 300 secondary schools throughout the country. Moreover, the French Language and Literature Centre at the Azerbaijani University of Languages, the French Language Centre at the Baku Slavic University, the Baku French Lyceum and the French-Azerbaijani University have been operating successfully.

Declaring Azerbaijan’s position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Daghlyg Garabagh conflict, Mehriban Aliyeva mentioned that the existing status-quo is unacceptable. There are four resolutions of the UN Security Council, and this conflict should be settled on the basis of these resolutions, international legal norms, respecting Azerbaijan’s sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said France was loyal to peaceful talks and supported solution of the conflict following international legal framework.

After the meeting, a ceremony of signing documents between Azerbaijan and France took place with participation of Mehriban Aliyeva and Édouard Philippe.

The “Convention on Reconstruction of the Sumgait-Yalama Railway of the North-South Transport Corridor in the Framework of the Railway Sector’s Development Programme” between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the French Development Agency was signed by Azerbaijan’s Finance Minister Samir Sharifov and State Secretary of France for Europe and Foreign Affairs Ministry Jean-Batiste Lemoyne.

“The Strategic Cooperation Agreement between the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and “Rothschild & Cie” Bank was signed by Chairman of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan Elman Rustamov and Director General of the “Rothschild & Cie” Bank Ariel Mallard de Rothschild.

“The Research Agreement on the Establishment of the Operation Control Centre” and “The Contract on Realization of the Signalling and Telecommunication System of Khojasan Depot” were signed by Chairperson of “Baku Metropoliten” Close Joint-stock Company Zaur Zeynalov and Director General of “Thales International” Rafael Ashkenazi.