' Lithuania, Azerbaijan to boost ties'

It is great to begin work as ambassador to Azerbaijan, which has been a good partner to Lithuania and with which we have good relations that transalte into excellent bilateral ties, newly appointed Lithuanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Arturas Zhurauskas said in an interview with Trend.

"Our relationship can be described as sound and strategic, and we have about 20 intergovernmental agreements, that is, there is a solid legal framework of relationship," Zhurauskas said.

He added that the two countries should look for new niches for deepening cooperation.

"Political relations... The ties between our political leaders and parliaments are constructive," he said.

Zhurauskas said when such a fundamental basis for the relationship is laid, greater focus on strengthening ties in economy, culture, tourism, science and technology cooperation is the priority.

An emphasis, according to the diplomat, should be placed on traditional areas where the two countries have large reserves.

"We need to raise the level of economic cooperation, contacts between people, to develop cultural relations, communication between the institutions of education, institutions of higher education - these are the moments of a relationship that should be prioritized. These are different priorities that require hard work, I think we will concentrate on them more in the process of work," Zhurauskas said.

"IT is taking first place in the 21st century and this is an area where Lithuania can be useful for Azerbaijan by offering its achievements," Zhurauskas said. He added that there is an attractive area of cooperation, as Lithuania has very good experience in the field of information technology.

In early November, Telecommunication Exhibition BakuTel 2012 will be held in Azerbaijan, in which impressive delegation from Lithuania headed by the Minister of Transport, who is responsible for this sector, will participate, he said.

"We see immense potential for cooperation and look forward to our Azerbaijani colleagues to be active in establishing contacts," Zhurauskas said.

Another promising area, according to the ambassador, is logistics.

The ambassador added that there are transport corridors in Lithuania through which goods from Azerbaijan will be able to easily reach Western Europe.

This area is very developed in Lithuania and this is a good time for Azerbaijan to use our opportunities, the ambassador said.

The ambassador noted that Lithuania has the chance to use the energy resources of Azerbaijan although no pipeline passes through Lithuania.

"We are building a terminal for liquefied natural gas, and it is one of the options to ensure the energy security of Lithuania by Azerbaijan. Lithuania wants to expand the sources of energy, as it is concerned by the fact that there is only one source of gas," he said.

We should not also forget about the high level of the agricultural sector of Lithuania, he said.

"The production of our agricultural sector is demanded in Azerbaijan, especially meat and dairy products. Besides, it might be interesting to cooperate with Lithuania in the field of restoration of the sturgeon population in Azerbaijan. We have the technology that will help to restore the population of the fish in Azerbaijan," Zhurauskas said.

The ambassador added that this is the fundamental areas in which Lithuania and Azerbaijan can cooperate.


/Trend/