"ROAD TO THE NORTH" IS OPEN

In early December, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov paid his first official visit to Norway on the invitation of the Foreign Ministry of that country.  Norway (Norvegiya in Russian), which means "northward route," is perhaps the most suitable name for this Scandinavian country, which is also the northernmost European country.  Azerbaijani diplomacy chose precisely that route in early December, after having concluded heated political debates at the OSCE ministerial summit in the relatively southern city of Madrid.  The foundation of present-day Azerbaijani-Norwegian relations was laid by the national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, who, together with the Norwegian leadership, laid down the guidelines for the development of bilateral relations during his visit to the country in April 1996.  Since then, political contact at the highest level between our countries has been regular.  The Speaker of the Milli Maclis visited Norway in March 1998, the Minister of Foreign Affairs - in February 2000, and the Azerbaijani Prime Minister - in February 2001.  Summarizing the outcome of these top level contacts, it has to be noted that they led to a strengthening of bilateral relations between Baku and Oslo, first and foremost in the energy and humanitarian sectors.

The recent visit of Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov to Norway gave a new impetus to the advancement of Azerbaijani-Norwegian cooperation.  The central event of the visit was the meeting of the head of our country's foreign department with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.  According to reports from the Azerbaijani and Norwegian foreign ministries, the two sides discussed prospects for bilateral relations in the political, humanitarian and energy sectors, the regulation of the Azerbaijan-Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh conflicts, issues concerning Azerbaijan's cooperation with NATO, of which Norway is a member, and issues of regional and international security.  It must be stressed that Oslo, like many other European capitals, views Azerbaijan as the eastern boundary of the European geographic and political arena and a "window" of sorts to the Near East and Central Asia, regions which are strategically important for the establishment of European policies.  For this reason, Baku's position and views on the regional situation are of major interest to Norwegian diplomacy.

An important result of the Oslo talks was the signing of the Joint Statement on the Further Development of Friendly Relations and Cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kingdom of Norway, which, in J. Gahr Store's words, is to become a "road map" for the development of bilateral relations.  In addition to statements on the two countries' identical approaches to pressing issues of international relations and regional policy, the document also describes concrete steps and initiatives in the five priority areas of Azerbaijani-Norwegian cooperation:  Politics and security, trade and investment, energy, environment, and humanitarian issues (education, culture, science and civil society), as well as in the area of retraining the diplomatic corps.  Norway's support was included in the declaration for the, "peaceful regulation of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan."

As for cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, it is important to note here that Norway is Azerbaijan's most active partner in this context, initiating 12 humanitarian projects in our country, with a total budget of almost $50 million.  In particular, Norwegian non-governmental and humanitarian organizations are carrying out projects of support for refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan, the development of civil society and democratic institutions in the country, assistance to the efforts of the OSCE Baku office in the economic and environmental sectors, the preservation and development of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage, and promotion of cooperation between Azerbaijani and Norwegian universities.  The reason for Norway's close involvement in this field is that all areas in which Norwegian organizations' projects are implemented in our country - environmental protection, human resources development, health and child care, preservation and protection of the European cultural heritage - are priorities of Oslo's policy for the "new neighbours" of the EU.

The "energy component" of the visit was no less fruitful.  Foreign Minister E. Mammadyarov met in Oslo with Norwegian Petroleum and Energy Minister Ms Aslaug Haga, the Ministry's State Secretary Liv Monica Stubholt, and StatoilHydro CEO and President Helge Lund.  Issues concerning bilateral relations in the oil and gas sectors and prospects for the implementation of the regional energy and transportation projects in which both countries take part were discussed during the meetings.  Sources in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry noted that during the meetings, the Norwegian side stressed that it considered Baku to be the base for StatoilHydro's regional operations.  It is important to note here that the Norwegian company is a "locomotive" for the bilateral partnership.  It takes part in all the most important energy and transportation projects in Azerbaijan:  Azeri-Cirag-Gunesli (the company's share in this project is 8.56%), Sah Daniz (25.5%), Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (8.71%) and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (commercial operator with a 25.5% share), and it helps to implement a number of humanitarian projects in education and culture.  Incidentally, StatoilHydro is not going to limit itself to the projects which are already underway in Azerbaijan and it intends to vie for a share in the second phase of exploitation of the Sahdaniz deposit which, according to some estimates, has about 8-10 billion cubic meters of natural gas.  In addition, the problem of ensuring energy stability in Europe was a focus of attention during the meetings in Oslo, which is not surprising.  Given that Norway supplies 16% of Europe's demand for natural gas, and Azerbaijani diplomacy is also oriented towards ensuring the energy security of EU countries, the consultations, exchanges of views and cooperation of the countries on this issue are an important element of bilateral ties.

It has to be noted that the presence in Azerbaijan of the Norwegian energy company StatoilHydro, which operates in 40 countries and is third in the world in terms of oil exports, is important not only from the point of view of the realization of international energy projects in Azerbaijan, but also for the development of trade, economic and investment relations between the two countries.  Norwegian investments are the fourth largest direct foreign investment inputs to the Azerbaijani economy, totalling $161 million (the first nine months of this year).  As for bilateral trade turnover, the figure is small, which, apparently, can be explained by a lack of awareness among private companies in the two countries of each other's potential.  And the potential, especially on the Norwegian side, is quite significant.  Oil and gas exports account for huge annual budget surpluses ($60 billion in 2006), which makes available billions of oil dollars annually that can be effectively used for promoting Azerbaijani-Norwegian cooperation.  Taking into account the priority for the development of the non-oil-related sectors of the national economy, which were clearly set by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the implementation of joint investment projects in sectors where the Norwegians have accumulated expertise was discussed.  These are, first and foremost, the food and fishing industries, food quality control, shipbuilding, textile and the pulp and paper industries.  All this, for its part, can stimulate growth in bilateral trade and the development of our country's economy.

Overall, E. Mammadyarov's visit to Norway drew a line under the 15-year phase of development of Azerbaijani-Norwegian relations and determined the main directions of their further development.  "Norway wants to develop its cooperation with Azerbaijan, and the joint declaration sets out frameworks for closer political, economic and cultural contact," said Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Store after the talks with his Azerbaijani opposite number.