During his official visit to Azerbaijan Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates was received by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev and the First Vice-President, H.E. Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva.

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the Alley of Honors to laid a wreath at the tomb of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. Visiting Alley of Martyrs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan paid tribute to the memory of martyrs and laid a wreath at the “Eternal Fire” Memorial. 

Within the visit Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan had an extended meeting with the participation of delegations.

Ministers expressed their satisfaction with the development of political dialogue between the countries and reiterated their mutual respect and support to each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of internationally recognized borders. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan stated that UAE supports the settlement Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan according to relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

Sides emphasized that strong foundation of the relations between Azerbaijan and the UAE was established during the historic meeting between National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and Founding Father of UAE Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, on the sidelines of Organization of Islamic Cooperation Casablanca Summit in 1994. Furthermore, they underlined that the relations between our countries strengthened and deepened through the joint efforts of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E Mr. Ilham Aliyev and the President of the United Arab Emirates, H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Ministers noted that the Joint Intergovernmental Commission, which was established in 2009, plays an important role in advancing of cooperation in the fields of economy, energy, tourism, agriculture, healthcare, logistics, investments, petrochemical industry, banking and finance.

Sides commended cooperation and exchange of experience between Dubai Jebel Ali Port and Baku International Sea Trade Port.

At the meeting Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated that visa facilitation regime applied for UAE citizens enabled 30 times increase in the flow of tourists from the UAE to Azerbaijan in 2016 comparing 2015 and this tendency continues to grow. Noting the quantity of weekly flights, which reached to 30 and planned new additional flights connecting the cities of Azerbaijan and the UAE, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov added that these steps would also contribute for further increase of people-to-people and business contacts. They agreed further to intensify contacts between the business communities of two countries.

Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan congratulated Azerbaijan on successfully hosting IV Islamic Solidarity Games. He expressed his conviction that Islamic Solidarity Games would contribute to strengthening of solidarity within the Islamic Ummah. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov shared conviction of his counterpart and praised active participation of UAE’s athletes in the Islamic Solidarity Games.

Ministers also exchanged congratulatory letters on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries.

At the meeting Ministers signed the “Memorandum of Understanding between the State Committee for Standardization, Meterology and Patent of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Emirates Authority of the United Arab Emirates for mutual recognition of conformity certificates and conformity marks”