RUSSIA, November 17 - Mikhail Mishustin: “We should make the most of the opportunities offered by the neighbourly and friendly relations built over many years. And here the expansion of our interregional cooperation plays a significant role. Adding substance to this partnership and involving new participants and leaders of our regions is our priority. It will promote the further growth of our national economies, improve the quality of life of our people and, in general, bring our peoples closer together.

The 11^th Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum is being held on 17 November 2022 as part of Mikhail Mishustin’s visit to Baku.

The forum programme includes a plenary session, panel discussions on promoting cooperation in transport, agriculture, tourism and culture, as well as an opportunity to establish business contacts.

The 1^st Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum was held in 2009 on the initiative of the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev. As part of this format, the sides establish new interregional ties and discuss promising joint projects.

Mikhail Mishustin’s remarks:

Esteemed Mr Asadov,

Forum participants, ladies and gentlemen, friends,

First of all, I would like to warm-heartedly welcome you to the 11^th Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum, and, of course, to use this occasion to congratulate our Azerbaijani colleagues on National Revival Day, marked today. I wish fraternal Azerbaijan peace and prosperity, as well as welfare and good to all its people.

I thank our colleagues for their traditionally warm welcome and hospitality. This has been noted by all of our representatives and governors.

This year we are celebrating the 30^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Our cooperation is developing dynamically, and bilateral contacts are filled with mutually beneficial and practical content. I believe that an open, trust-based dialogue between our leaders, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin, contributes to this. The signing of the Declaration on Allied Interaction at the highest level this year further promoted our strategic partnership, which is actively developing in all areas in the spirit of friendship, neighbourliness, mutual respect, and consideration for each other’s interests.

Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan is based on a very firm legal foundation, which includes over 150 international treaties. We constructively address the most significant issues for our nations. We are successfully moving forward, even amid external instability and attempts to bring discord into our joint work. To this end, we are implementing an intergovernmental action plan to develop key areas of cooperation for the period up to 2024.

Today, Russia is one of Azerbaijan’s main foreign economic partners. More than 900 joint ventures with Russian involvement operate in Azerbaijan, and about 300 of them are fully financed by Russian capital. Cooperation is expanding in energy, machine-building, industry, transport, and other sectors.

Mutual trade is moving forward dynamically. Mr Asadov said trade grew about 12 percent last year. I have a different number: 16 percent. We will definitely check this. This year, our records for 10 months show that mutual trade reached about $3 billion, or 20 percent growth.

In recent years, we have made considerable progress in virtually all areas of cooperation.

However, the external environment, in which our countries operate today, as well as the situation in world markets, remain very difficult. This is partly due to the unfriendly steps taken against Russia by the collective West. Unlawful unilateral sanctions, unfair competition, and protectionist measures are being used. At the same time, they are trying to destroy the established architecture of the multilateral trading system.

Of course, in this situation we need to look for new formats of cooperation. Speaking recently at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Vladimir Putin noted the need to more actively initiate mechanisms for creating large association spaces based on the interaction of neighbouring countries, whose economies, social spheres, resource bases, and infrastructure naturally complement each other.

We should make maximum use of the opportunities offered by the neighbourly and friendly relations we have built up over the years. In this regard, the expansion of our interregional cooperation plays an important role.

Giving substance to this partnership and involving new participants, the heads of our regions, is our priority goal, which will give a boost to our national economies, improve the quality of life for our people and bring our nations closer together.

The forum, now in its 11^th year, has become an effective tool for enhancing interregional ties, and exchanging experiences and useful practices in a variety of fields.

Today, more than 70 regions of Russia are developing cooperation with Azerbaijan. A quarter of them already have agreements on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation.

The Moscow, Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, as well as the Moscow and Sverdlovsk regions are the leaders in interregional trade with Azerbaijan. The top ten major trading partners also include the Republic of Tatarstan, the Volgograd and Saratov regions and the city of St Petersburg.

I would like to single out the Astrakhan Region among the Russian regions actively developing business contacts with our Azerbaijani colleagues. The Astrakhan Region government, together with our partners from Azerbaijan, has implemented a large number of infrastructure and social projects, established cooperation between transport enterprises, and holds joint forums on education, medicine and culture.

Merchant shipping is expanding between Astrakhan and Azerbaijani ports. This is a significant area for us, capable of creating additional cargo traffic within the International North-South Transport Corridor, a very important corridor, which you, Mr Asadov, and I discussed in detail at the Caspian Forum.

There are also convenient platforms for interaction between the businesses of our countries. These are the Azerbaijan Centre in Astrakhan and the Astrakhan Business Centre – its opening ceremony was held in Baku last December.

Importantly, I want to say that all regions of the Russian Federation are interested in expanding contacts with Azerbaijan in key areas. This is primarily industry, transport, shipbuilding, agriculture, investment and digital transformation.

There is great potential for developing cultural cooperation. Let us make better use of it, friends.

One of the most important tasks is to preserve our common language space and adapt it to modern, new conditions.

As Mr Asadov said, there are about 340 Russian-language schools in Azerbaijan today. Many young people strive to get higher education in Russian. And we create all the necessary opportunities for this. More than 11,000 Azerbaijani students study in Russia. Branches of Moscow State University and Sechenov Medical University have operated in Baku for several years. MGIMO University, the Higher School of Economics, and Moscow State University of Humanities and Economics offer double degree programmes together with Azerbaijani universities. This cannot but make us happy.

Cooperation between youth organisations is also developing. You mentioned the forum in the Qusar District, which was held in March – the first Forum of Youth Initiatives. And the September forum held in Nizhny Novgorod.

I am sure that we should continue this initiative, perhaps even holding youth forums more frequently.  

Strong cultural ties create a reliable basis for expanding direct contacts between the citizens of our countries. And they are very important for strengthening neighbourliness.

Colleagues,

Friends,

We can talk a lot about how Russian-Azerbaijani relations are being built. We have something to say. Most importantly, in recent years the bonds of friendship and partnership have become even stronger. I believe that our cooperation has acquired a truly strategic and allied nature.

And today’s event will hopefully take our interaction to an even higher level.

The practical proposals and recommendations expressed here in the course of open and constructive discussions will certainly be carefully studied and taken into account in the work of our governments.

I am convinced that expanding the geography of regional ties and strengthening the established contacts will help further develop the economies of our countries and improve the quality of life for people in Russia and Azerbaijan.