BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 1. I am sure that the future of the university will be very bright. It will take its rightful place not only in Azerbaijan, but also on a global scale, and graduates of the university will contribute to the development of Azerbaijan, said President Ilham Aliyev as he attended the inauguration of the first campus of the Italy-Azerbaijan University in Baku, Trend reports.
Speech by President Ilham Aliyev
- Dear Mr. President.
Dear guests, students and teachers.
Ladies and gentlemen.
It is a very significant day in the history of Azerbaijani-Italian relations today, as we are participating in the inauguration of the buildings of the Italy-Azerbaijan University. When I met with President Mattarella in Rome last year, I informed him about this and invited him to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan. I am glad that Mr. President accepted my invitation and has come to Azerbaijan for a second official visit. We are inaugurating this wonderful educational institution together as part of the visit. In fact, the inclusion of this event in the program of President Mattarella's official visit shows that both Italy and Azerbaijan attach great importance to cooperation in this area. I am sure that the future of the university will be very bright. It will take its rightful place not only in Azerbaijan, but also on a global scale, and graduates of the university will contribute to the development of Azerbaijan. I am sure that those studying here now and those who will study here in the future will provide great support for the development of Azerbaijan in the future, because it is no secret that the development of each country stems from its scientific and educational potential. If we look at the experience of developed countries, we will see that it is knowledge, education, and technology that drive the development of these countries forward. In today's world, technological development determines the success of every country. As a country rich in natural resources, Azerbaijan has tried, first of all, to channel the revenues from natural resources into the development of human capital because we must look to the future. Let me reiterate that oil, gas and natural resources do not mean that these countries will have long-term sustainable development. This development can be short-term. Long-term sustainable development is built on a foundation of knowledge, technology and education. Therefore, we in Azerbaijan have been paying great attention to this area and have been implementing many important programs for many years.
After I was elected President, I almost immediately issued an order to send Azerbaijani youth to the world's leading universities at the expense of Azerbaijan, to have all their expenses covered by the government and to have them return to the Motherland as good specialists. To date, thousands of students have gone to the world's leading universities through government support. At the next stage, we decided to also pay close attention to international cooperation issues related to the development of the education system within Azerbaijan. A university is already operating in Azerbaijan with several foreign partners, and the next university is the Italy-Azerbaijan University. What makes this university quite special is that, as rector Hafiz Pashayev has just noted, this university was established together with five leading Italian universities and ADA University. Of course, taking into account the relations of strategic partnership between Italy and Azerbaijan, we are confident and hopeful that this will become one of the leading educational institutions in Azerbaijan.
Italy has established relations with Azerbaijan on the basis of strategic partnership for many years. We are strategic partners in the true sense of the word, because our cooperation is strategic in nature. It is not short-term, but long-term. At the same time, new areas are added to our cooperation framework every year. Ranging from energy to industrial production and now also covering the field of education, the cooperation is truly strategic in nature.
Yesterday, as part of President Mattarella's official visit, we noted both in official statements and in our negotiations that Azerbaijani-Italian cooperation has led to great development, for example, in the energy sector. The TAP project, which is part of the Southern Gas Corridor, was made possible, to a large extent, thanks to President Mattarella's personal involvement and support. If this had not been resolved at that time, we would not have been able to export so much natural resources to Europe today. We would have been suffering from that, and so would Europe. Today, Azerbaijani gas supports the energy security of eight European Union member states, and this geography is expanding. Azerbaijani-Italian cooperation has played a crucial role here.
Azerbaijan is in second place in the Italian market in terms of gas supply and in first place in terms of oil supply. I am sure that Italy will also be our number one partner in the field of education. In any case, what we have seen here and the successes of the university that has already started operating give reason to say so. Hundreds of students are already studying at the university. We also met with the management team here today. An international team of professors works here, both from Italy and Azerbaijan. There are also foreign students, and this creates a very nice atmosphere. I am sure that those studying here and graduates will be ambassadors of Azerbaijani-Italian friendship in the future. In any case, the future of Azerbaijani students going to this university will be connected with Italy. They will get to know Italy, its culture, its development and successes more closely. Many goals will be achieved here. First of all, a strong human resource capacity will be created for the Azerbaijani economy in the future. The issues of improving our education sector will be addressed. We will join the most modern and progressive education system and, at the same time, our friendly relations with Italy, one of the leading countries of the European Union, will be further strengthened. Taking into account all these factors, we once again see that timely and thoughtful steps lead to wonderful results.
It was noted here that the initiative to establish this university was put forward only five years ago. Documents were exchanged in Rome, at the Cultural Center within the Azerbaijan Embassy. Following this, I issued an order. Then, funds were allocated from Azerbaijan’s state budget for the establishment of these buildings and the entire infrastructure, and today, in 2025, we are celebrating the opening of these beautiful buildings.
This is a truly wonderful event. This educational institution will be a center of Azerbaijani-Italian friendship. I congratulate each of you on this occasion. I once again express my gratitude to the President for attending this event together with us. Thank you.