BELGRADE, Serbia, February 15. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev spoke about the future plans of the two countries during his press statement with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, Trend reports.
Statement by President Ilham Aliyev
- Dear Mr. President, my dear friend,
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
Mr. President, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to you for the invitation and hospitality. It is your national holiday today, Statehood Day, and yet, you are welcoming the Azerbaijani delegation. We view this as a manifestation of the high level of our relations. Serbia and Azerbaijan are two friendly countries that always stand by each other.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to congratulate you and all the friendly people of Serbia on the occasion of Statehood Day. It is not by chance that this holiday is called as such. I am well aware that the Serbian people have always made great efforts and sacrifices to protect and strengthen their state sovereignty. My dear friend, as the President of Serbia, you have always put statehood and state interests above all else. That is why Serbia is developing successfully under your leadership, and your country has gained tremendous respect internationally. At the same time, major reforms have been carried out in the economic and social spheres. As a result, Serbia, a country without natural resources, has been developing economically with great success, relying on its own strength and without receiving assistance from anywhere. In present-day circumstances, especially for a country located in Europe, this should be viewed as a significant factor. I would like to note the very high leadership qualities of President Vučić. As you may know, our contacts have been ongoing for many years. We know each other well, we have sincere conversations, and friendly relations. I know how much President Vučić is committed to the Serbian people, state, and public interests, and it is precisely these factors that underpin the success of any country. Of course, as friends of Serbia, we highly appreciate this and are happy about it.
My dear friend has touched upon the issues we discussed, so I do not want to repeat them. Indeed, many issues were discussed at the first meeting of the Serbia-Azerbaijan Strategic Council today. Before that, we reviewed a wide range of issues in our one-on-one meeting. We also have clear plans for the future, which consist of further strengthening our relations in the political, economic, and energy sectors, continuing to support each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty on international platforms and within international organizations, implementing joint investment projects, taking advantage of newly created opportunities in the energy and transport sectors, and creating a very strong synergy by looking further ahead.
President Vučić has already touched upon the future of the power plant to be built jointly. As the President has said, we have decided to keep this issue under the presidents’ oversight. The process of creating this power plant is based on the investment opportunities that exist in Serbia. Because if the investment climate were not positive, Serbia would not be so attractive to foreign investors. It is precisely as a result of the reforms that many countries, including Azerbaijan, are ready to invest substantially in Serbia.
The construction and reconstruction of power plants, as well as their rehabilitation, pave the way for the future development of any country. In particular, countries without natural resources often fall into dependence. Therefore, the presence of domestic energy and generation capacities ensures the energy security of each country, and I would like to note the special role of President Vučić in the implementation of this project.
In general, our relations in the energy sector are now developing in a diversified manner. Some time ago, we started exporting natural gas to Serbia, and today we decided to increase the volume of our exports. Now Serbia will also convert the gas to be exported into electricity, thereby acquiring clean electricity. This will create opportunities for both the Serbian market and for future exports. Today, Azerbaijan's export potential in the energy sector is 2 gigawatts. This figure will only increase because we are now engaged in the construction of many renewable energy plants and are ready to cooperate with Serbia in this area.
We will generate an additional 8 gigawatts of energy capacity by 2032, and a large part of it will be exported. To achieve this, we need new and larger transmission capacities because our main export destination is Europe.
As for other issues, let me repeat, my friend has already spoken about them. I do not want to take up too much of your time. I believe that the results of my official visit will not be long in coming. We will meet again in the near future. I have invited President Vučić and members of the Serbian delegation to Azerbaijan. I am sure that we will meet several times this year – both in Azerbaijan and, perhaps, again in Serbia. Both I and, I am sure, the rest of the Azerbaijani delegation feel absolutely at home here. I have been to Serbia many times and have witnessed first hand the development taking place in Serbia under the leadership of President Vučić. Therefore, I would like to once again sincerely congratulate our Serbian friends and join President Vučić in his slogan: Long live Serbia! Long live Azerbaijan! Long live Serbian-Azerbaijani friendship.