ALGIERS- The Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, was received, Wednesday in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, by his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, Trend reported.
The meeting was followed by a joint briefing, during which the head of the Algerian diplomacy Lamamra emphasized the need to create a Business Council between Azerbaijan and Algeria.
“It’s necessary to develop business contacts between our countries. To do this, we need to create a Business Council, which will contribute to the significant development of economic relations between Azerbaijan and Algeria,” he said.
According to the Minister, a more active exchange between the two ministries and governments is needed to realize the potential of cooperation between the friendly countries.
On another level, Lamamra highlighted Algeria’ support for the prospects of peace and stability in the South Caucasus on the basis of international law.
“We aim to contribute to this matter. The role of Algeria as the former chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Azerbaijan as the current chairman oblige to this,” he said.
The minister noted the productivity of the discussions he held with his Azerbaijani, expressing hope for further fruitful cooperation between the two countries.
For his part, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov expressed his country’s willingness to form “normal relations with neighboring countries.”
“Azerbaijan is in favor of forming normal relations with neighboring countries. We can move towards the normalization of relations based on mutual respect of state borders,” Bayramov said.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his visiting Algerian counterpart in Baku, Bayramov said he outlined “the return of the first internally displaced persons to their native Aghali village of the Zangilan district. This is the beginning of the first stage of the ‘Great Return’, trend reported.
“I briefed my colleague on the reconstruction activities, the return of former internally displaced persons to liberated Karabakh, as well as talked about the ongoing situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, including the non-constructive approach of the Armenian side,” Bayramov added.
Bilaterally, the Azerbaijani Minister said that his country maintains good relations with Algeria on international platforms, adding that “great potential for cooperation exists in the economic sector”.
The minister noted that Algeria supports the initiatives of the Azerbaijani Embassy at a high level.
Bayramov, stressing the importance of high-level visits between the two countries, highly appreciated the participation of the Algerian delegation in the meeting of the parliamentary network of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Baku.
In this vein, Azerbaijan and Algeria signed two documents. “An agreement was signed on the exemption of visas for holders of diplomatic and service passports, as well as a protocol on holding political consultations between the foreign ministries of the two countries,” the Minister stated.
As a reminder, Mr. Lamamra arrived Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan, for a two-day working visit as a special envoy of President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
A member of OPEC+, the Republic of Azerbaijan chairs the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) until the end of 2023 and takes part in the works of the Forum of Gas Explorer Countries (GEPF).
