To the participants of the high-level meeting “Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Europe - cooperation for common development”

Dear co-chairs of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center!

Ladies and gentlemen!

I am sincerely glad to welcome you to the ancient and beautiful land of Uzbekistan.

I express my deep gratitude to the Nizami Ganjavi International Center for the initiative to gather such an authoritative group of participants on one site in Tashkent - famous politicians and government officials, heads of international organizations who make a great contribution to the development of their countries, strengthening international cooperation and mutual trust.

I will especially note the important role of this center in preserving and widely popularizing the unique creative heritage of the great Azerbaijani thinker Nizami Ganjavi - the “sultan of poets”, as the great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi called him.

I will emphasize that the deep philosophy, ideas of Nizami Ganjavi about the harmony of man with the surrounding world and justice acquire even greater importance in today's difficult conditions.

The active participation of the Nizami Ganjavi Center in the study of issues on the international agenda deserves special attention.

The annual Global Baku Forum, held under its auspices, has become one of the authoritative, recognized in world of dialogue platforms where new ideas are put forward to solve the most pressing problems of international and regional development.

I consider it very important that the main topic of today's forum is the issues of interconnectedness between Central Asia and the South Caucasus and the prospects for partnership between these two largest regions with Europe.

We see this as a unique opportunity to widely present Central Asia to the world, where the processes of consolidation and cooperation are gaining momentum, to exchange views on strengthening interregional interconnectedness, as well as to more fully utilize the potential and capabilities of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

In recent years, Uzbek-Azerbaijani relations have been actively developing in the spirit of mutual trust and support, the Treaty on Allied Relations has been signed, the Supreme Interstate Council is operating.

I would like to especially note thatAzerbaijan acts as a strategic bridge connecting Central Asia and Europe.

Today our relations with Europe, which is represented by many participants at the current forum, are at a completely new stage development.

Recently, we recently held theCentral Asia - European Union summit in our country for the first time.

A historic decision was made to establish a strategic partnership between our region and the countries of the European Union. In the coming months, we intend to sign an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union.

Together with the European Union and other partners, we will continue focused work on developing efficient transport, logistics and energy corridors. I am convinced that these measures will allow us to revive the role of our region as a hub between the West and the East.

We highly appreciate the readiness of the President of Azerbaijan, respected Ilham Heydarovich Aliyev, to participate in the development of new regional processes and his efforts to strengthen the interaction between the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

We take this opportunity once again to sincerely congratulatethe friendly people of Azerbaijan on their enormous historical achievement - the recent signing in Washington, through the mediation of the United States, of a trilateral Joint Declaration with Armenia.

Dear forum participants!

Today, Uzbekistan resolutely continues its dynamic reforms, and along this path we have already achieved enormous results. The principle “Uzbekistan is a country open to the world and opening the world to itself” has been firmly established in our life.

We consistently strengthen long-term relationships with foreign partners and international organizations, expand the scope of cooperation, and are always open to new innovative ideas. We will continue the policy of building a New Uzbekistan as a legal, secular, democratic and social state.

In the current extremely difficult time, Uzbekistan and the Central Asian region offer the international community an invaluable resource - stability, trust and development.

I believe that today, in new conditions, wide horizons for interaction are opening up before us, new opportunities are emerging for joint work in areas of mutual interest and mutual benefit. In this regard, we count on your support and further cooperation.

I sincerely wish all participants in today's meeting an effective dialogue and successful work of the forum.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev,

President of the Republic Uzbekistan

Official website of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan