Courtesy Call on H.E. Mr. Taro Aso, Prime Minister of Japan, by H.E. Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan

June 16, 2009
Japanese

On June 16 (Tue), H.E. Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Taro Aso, Prime Minister of Japan, for approximately 30 minutes from 4:30 PM. Mr. Mammadyarov is currently visiting Japan as a Guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. The outline of the meeting is as follows. (Also in attendance from Azerbaijan: H.E. Mr. Azer Tofig Oglu Huseyn, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Japan, and others. From Japan: H.E. Mr. Masamitsu Oki, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Azerbaijan, Mr. Keiichi Hayashi, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary, and others.)

At the outset of the meeting, Prime Minister Aso welcomed Minister Mammadyarov’s visit to Japan and expressed his pleasure for meeting him again after the occasion when he accompanied H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, who visited Japan in 2006. In response, Mr. Mammadyarov expressed his appreciation towards the kind welcome and expressed an invitation for Prime Minister Aso to visit Baku, with an invitation letter from President Alieyev.
Minister Mammadyarov described Azerbaijan’s steady economic growth in recent years and explained about the efforts directed towards diversification of energy pipelines. In response, Prime Minister Aso highlighted the importance of Azerbaijan’s energy resources such as petroleum and natural gas as well as the country’s geopolitical importance, and stressed that the maintenance of the Logistic Route, to connect Central Asia and Europe through Caspian and Black Seas is of importance for the further development of the Caucasus region.

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