Argentine analyst: We should develop ties between Azerbaijan and Argentine in spheres such as sport, culture, science and economy

Mr. Fraga, you are visiting Azerbaijan for the first time. Tell us about the reason of your visit and first impressions about the country.

I visited Azerbaijan at the invitation of your government in order to learn more about the country. There are two ways to study a country: either through the Internet and media or through visiting county itself and see everything. Observing the events in Azerbaijan, we can infer that this country has created a very successful model where oil incomes are used to develop all the rest spheres of the government.

Looking at Azerbaijan, you can see that it has an ancient history, rich culture and developed economy. I would like to underscore two points. First, Azerbaijan is located at the junction of Europe and Asia and has a rich culture.  Second, the country uses its income in a proper manner. Azerbaijan is a Muslim county maintaining high-level tolerance and democracy. I think that the development model of Azerbaijan may become an example for other countries. At the same time, Azerbaijan successfully applies experiences of other governments.

What spheres, do you think, Azerbaijan and Argentina should deepen and extend relations in?

I think, to develop ties between the two countries, it's necessary, first of all, to exchange information. The countries should know each other more and therefore, I think, the countries should rapidly develop diplomatic relations. Moreover, it's indispensable to develop social relations between the two counties so that our nations would be closer to each other despite of the long distance between Azerbaijan and the South America. We have much common, since both Latino-American counties and Azerbaijan are amongst developing countries.

Both Latin America and Azerbaijan have many natural resources, rational application of which influences development of countries. Relations between Azerbaijan and Argentina are contemporary. Azerbaijan can apply a rich experience of Argentina in agriculture. At the same time, Argentina can benefit from Azerbaijan's experience in oil and gas sector because Argentina doesn't currently make much effort to the development of this sphere. Despite the presence of big oil and gas fields, Argentina has a big demand for energy resources, so our country imports them. Therefore, it would be good for Argentina to study Azerbaijan's experience in order to use its own resources.

As long as Argentina did not launch the realization of major projects in this sphere, it can import energy resources from Azerbaijan.  As I noted, Azerbaijan can use the experience of our country in agricultural sphere. I think, Argentina's interest concerning Azerbaijan is not limited with agricultural production. Our country can also participate in the development of infrastructure here.

What contribution would you give to the development of relations between the two countries as being an influential Latin American analyst?

The first thing I want to do is to write about the realities of Azerbaijan and how to develop Azerbaijani-Argentine ties in a better and more intensive way. Also, I will work on finding common grounds between the two countries with different cultures and history.

I think for now the main objective is to contribute in opening of the Argentine embassy in Azerbaijan. This will intensify the development of our relations much more. We should spare no effort in improving ties between Azerbaijan and Argentine in spheres such as sport, culture, science and economy. Argentines should know that Azerbaijan plays a significant role in the South Caucasus and is a bridge to Asia.

You are probably aware about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We would like to know your position on how to settle this problem.

Argentina also has a kind of conflict with the Great Britain on Malvinas Islands (Falkland Islands). Therefore, positions of Azerbaijan and Argentina concerning conflicts coincide. In Argentina's case, Malvinas Islands were occupied by the Great Britain and now they claim that their main population is English, not Argentines. As for Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia occupied Azerbaijan's territories. I think it would be good if Azerbaijan and Argentine cooperate in resolving these conflicts.

The main point here is that both Azerbaijan and Argentina tried to put an end to these conflicts through peaceful negotiations. In my opinion, the countries should cooperate in this direction within various international organizations. Thus, the UN issued resolutions in favor of Azerbaijan regarding Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and in favor of Argentine regarding Malvinas Islands which were not yet implemented. In recent years, Argentina gets more and more support from international organizations in resolving the conflict on Malvinas Islands. I think, joint activities in these issues will be very useful for both governments.
 
 
/Day.Az/