BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 2. Azerbaijan is placing greater emphasis in its foreign policy on economic diplomacy, connectivity and energy cooperation, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, said on Friday, on the second day of the CAMCA regional forum in Baku, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
According to Hajiyev, Azerbaijan has already contributed to the transformation of the South Caucasus and advanced the peace agenda in the region. “First of all, we demonstrated regional responsibility: this is our region, we shape our region and change the new geopolitical realities, and then regional leadership, which we demonstrated,” he said.
Hajiyev noted that Azerbaijan is gradually shifting its focus toward economic diplomacy. “It was a strategic policy, within which we see that Azerbaijan is somewhat shifting toward economic diplomacy,” he said.
According to him, this approach includes the development of connectivity, energy diplomacy, renewable energy and transport links. “Based on economic diplomacy — connectivity, energy diplomacy and connectivity in a broader sense, whether renewable energy or transport links — as well as strengthening and maintaining further peace,” the presidential aide said.
At the same time, Hajiyev stressed that geopolitics continues to play an important role for Azerbaijan. He added that amid high levels of uncertainty in the world, maintaining security and peace in Azerbaijan and the region remains a priority.
