Baku - President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev reviewed on Tuesday with Syrian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resource Sufian Allaw the activities of the first session of the Syrian-Azerbaijani Committee for Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, which kicked off earlier in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.
President Aliyev pointed out that President Bashar al-Assad's visit to Azerbaijan in 2009 and the talks held during it laid new foundations for relations between the two countries and the mechanisms for developing them in all fields.
He said that both countries must benefit from their considerable economic resources they have, underlining the various potential fields for cooperation with Syria, particularly in the fields of economy, agriculture, energy, petroleum and gas.
President Aliyev also affirmed that his country supports joint Syrian-Azerbaijani investments.
For his part, Minister Allaw stressed the importance of the Syrian-Azerbaijani Committee's meetings in following up on the agreements signed during President al-Assad's visit to Azerbaijan, which cover the fields of politics, commerce, customs, finance, industry, mass media, education and higher education.
The meetings of the Syrian-Azerbaijani Committee for Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation kicked off on Tuesday, co-chaired by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Sofian al-Allaw and Agriculture Minister of Azerbaijan Ismet Abasov.
The two sides discussed enhancing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, energy, industry, electricity, renewable energy, education and scientific research among other fields.
The two sides continued negotiations to purchase 1.5 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani natural gas annually, in addition to cooperation between the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in the field of exploration and production.
Azerbaijan recorded a major growth that reached 20-30 % mainly in the field of energy during the past five years. It also produced more than 50 million tons of crude oil. The annual natural gas production is estimated at 23 billion cubic meters.
By H. Sabbagh / Manal Ismael / Mazen Eyon
© SANA (Syria Arab News Agency) 2010
