"Argentina interested in signing agreements on education and culture with Azerbaijan"

Mr. Deputy Minister, welcome to Azerbaijan. As we know you are the first dignitary of the Argentine Government paying a visit to Azerbaijan. What are your impressions about our country?

I found a friendly and dynamic society, rich in historic traditions but at the same time very open towards its future development. As to visits between government officials, we must remember that in the year 2006 the Azerbayani foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, traveled to Argentina in an official visit that included meetings with the then Argentine Foreign Minister Mr. Jorge Taiana, the then Vicepresident, Daniel Scioli, and the Minister for Federal Planning, Julio de Vido.

How do you assess the current state of Azerbaijan-Argentine relations?

We believe we have a lot to learn from each other. This is why we are very interested in signing the pending agreements between our countries on Educational Cooperation and Cultural Cooperation, in the hope that they will help us to know each other even better.

What are the perspectives of cooperation between our two countries?

The establishment of an Argentine Embassy in Azerbaijan, based on the principles of reciprocity, is currently under study and is going to be considered a priority in the context of our policy towards the region.

What is the position of Argentina, a country having problems with the territorial issues, with regard to the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabagh conflict? Can you please highlight the current developments over the resolution of territorial disputes in your country?

As you may know, our government reaffirms the Argentine Republic's imprescriptible rights of sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, which are an integral part of its national territory. It also reiterates its permanent and sincere willingness to resume bilateral negotiations with the United Kingdom, in accordance to the pertinent United Nations General Assembly, with the purpose of finding a definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute. Regarding th Nagorno Karabagh conflict, we have always backed the activities of the "Minsk Group" and have stated in many fora our desire that a just and lasting solution to the conflict be reached by the parties.

Azerbaijan has recently set up its Embassy in Buenos Aires, our country's first diplomatic mission in South America. When is the Argentine government going to open its Embassy in Azerbaijan?

From an economic and commercial point of view, we must increase our cooperation and diversify our balance of trade. Until now, our main exports to Azerbaijan have been pharmaceutical goods, meat and dairy products, while most of our imports from your country are related to the chemical industry. We understand Baku is interested in Argentina's expertise in agriculture and its use of state of the art agricultural machinery. We thus consider the signing of technical cooperation agreements to be of the utmost importance.

In Azerbaijan Argentina is famous for its football, tango and beef. But we are convinced that there are a lot of undiscovered beauties in your country. Azerbaijani society is keen to explore your rich culture and values in depth. Are there any plans in the agenda of the Argentine government on this matter?

We believe that this trip will be followed with a visit by our Foreign Minister next year. We expect this visit to further strengthen ties between our two countries. The signing of bilateral treaties which have been in the pipeline will also help to bring our two countries closer.


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