NEW QUALITY

Mehriban Aliyeva's recent visit to Moscow was the third official visit of the First Vice President of Azerbaijan to a foreign country and the first visit to Russia. Moscow has carefully prepared for the arrival, as not every vice president is accepted in the Russian capital at the level of president and prime minister.

The previous visits of Aliyeva to Italy and France showed the importance of maintaining relations with Azerbaijan and a high level of interest of European politicians in the First Lady. The Western media called Mehriban Aliyeva as a new female leader in the East, paying tribute to the beauty and wisdom of the First Vice President.

But Mehriban Aliyeva is better known than in Russia than in Europe. As a graduate of the Sechenov Medical Institute, she considers Moscow as her native city. Moscow is well aware of the contribution of Mrs. Aliyeva to the popularisation of the Russian language and culture in Azerbaijan and the propaganda of Azerbaijani culture in Russia. Compared to frankly Russophobic, nationalist sentiments existing in some countries of the post-Soviet space, Azerbaijan is an example of stability, reliability and tolerance. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, "Azerbaijan is one of the countries of the former Soviet Union, where the attitude to Russian culture and the Russian language is maintained at the highest level." The need to support this trend is one of the priorities of the domestic and foreign policies of the First Vice President and is in line with the policies of President Ilham Aliyev.

"Our generation has common roots and history. The young generation is growing, and it is important that we preserve and strengthen the ties, especially the humanitarian ties between our peoples our younger generation," M. Aliyeva said at a meeting with President Putin.

Mrs. Aliyeva also visited the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame. The memory of victims of the fight against fascism is one of the most sensitive topics for the Russian public. It is no coincidence that as soon as President Ilham Aliyev voiced at the Ashgabat summit of CIS leaders the evidence about the glorification of Nazi minions in neighbouring Armenia, the Russian media literally exploded with publications condemning this policy of Yerevan. Azerbaijan makes it clear that it honours the common history and puts universal human values ​​above narrow political interests.

It is noteworthy that not only prominent politicians and statesmen but also the general public was interested in the visit of Mehriban Aliyeva to Russia. They call Mehriban Aliyeva as the most beautiful vice-president in the world and the most "western" first lady of the East. Although the largest Russian media outlets lined up for an interview with the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, she gave interview to Rossiya TV, the state-run TASS news agency and the popular newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

In her interviews, Mehriban Aliyeva spoke about the strong traditions of friendship and neighbourhood, joint economic and humanitarian projects, traditions of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan. The Russian audience appreciated the messages of Mrs. Aliyeva about friendship, development and mutual enrichment.

Official meetings

The agenda of the First Vice President of Azerbaijan was full of high level meetings with Russian statesmen and events. Aliyeva held official meetings with almost all of the country's leadership and senior officials. The meeting with President Putin was both business-like and relaxed. Mr. Putin appreciated the role of Mehriban Aliyeva in the development of friendly relations between Russia and Azerbaijan and presented her with an honorary state award, Order of Friendship.

"I want to draw your attention to the fact that this is a conscious decision. Not just because you are one of the highest officials of Azerbaijan. It is because we highly appreciate your efforts and work to maintain interstate ties at the high level," President Putin said.

The high level of good neighbourly relations was also underlined at the meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. But the main topic of discussions with the Prime Minister was the growing economic relations between our countries. Following the meeting, the parties reached an agreement on the development of a new additional "road map", which will cover the fields of innovation and technology.

During the visit, Mehriban Aliyeva was accompanied by Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov and Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev responsible for the economic sector in the government of Azerbaijan. Together with their colleagues, Minister of Economy of Russia Maxim Oreshkin and Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko, they formed the economic agenda of the visit, mainly focused on the tenth anniversary of the interregional Russia-Azerbaijan forum.

Economics as a driver

The event has a glorious tradition and has already become the forerunner of significant joint economic projects. Within the framework of these forums, businessmen from the regions of both countries get to know each other, establish business relations, which in turn contributes to increase in goods turnover and the level of mutual investments.

As the First Vice President of Azerbaijan noted at the opening of the anniversary forum, interregional cooperation is an important component of bilateral relations. "One of the main areas of our cooperation is trade. Russia is one of the main partners of Azerbaijan and ranks first in the import of our non-oil products. We have taken comprehensive measures to develop and diversify the growing turnover of commodities. Azerbaijan opened its first trade mission abroad in Russia. The Azerbaijani-Russian and Russian-Azerbaijani business councils have been established and operate successfully. Our production companies open export missions in various regions of our countries," Mehriban Aliyeva said.

In fact, the following indicators sum up the painstaking work of economists and open up new prospects. According to the First Vice-President Aliyeva, the trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan increased by 19% and reached $2.6b in 2018. During the first nine months of 2019, we achieved an increase of 26%. About 700 enterprises with Russian capital are registered in Azerbaijan. The volume of Russian investments to Azerbaijan reached $4.9b. At the same time, Azerbaijan invested $1.2b to Russia. Russia is the main consumer of exported Azerbaijani agricultural products. The goal is to reach the indicator of 1 million tons, which had long been considered rather exaggerated.

Yet another important area of ​​cooperation between our countries is transport and transit of commodities. Transport corridors passing through Azerbaijan make the country even closer to Russia.

Tourism between Russia and Azerbaijan is growing dynamically and bilaterally. Almost a million Russian citizens visited Azerbaijan last year, making Russia first in this indicator. Azerbaijan is one of the main investors in the tourism infrastructure of the North Caucasus region of Russia.

These and other topics will form the agenda of the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan scheduled for December 2019 in Baku.

More than economy

Humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan can also be considered exemplary. Cooperation in education made it possible to open the branches of the leading Russian universities in Baku, while thousands of Azerbaijani students have an opportunity to get education in Russia.

There is a constant dialogue on issues concerning culture, including regular exhibitions, theatre tours, concerts, music and film festivals. For the last twenty-five years, both countries have implemented a large-scale project called Culture Days regularly held in Russia and Azerbaijan.

Paying tribute to the traditions of humanitarian cooperation, Mehriban Aliyeva visited the State Tretyakov Gallery to take part at the 8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art. The exhibition also hosted a stand with multimedia installations of Azerbaijani artists, which was presented to the distinguished guest by the director of the gallery Zelfira Tregulova.

It is also worth noting the grand opening of the Azerbaijani pavilion at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNKh) restored by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for the 80th anniversary of the exhibition. First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva and Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva took part at the opening ceremony of the pavilion.

Apart from visual resporation, the pavilion of Azerbaijan also has new content, including seven halls with exhibits reflecting the ancient history and culture of the Azerbaijani people, history of independent Azerbaijan, as well as the achievements of Azerbaijan in political, economic, humanitarian spheres, and tourism.

This will make possible for Russians to get to know Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people even better. On the other hand, the multimillion Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia has received its own cultural home, and this is perhaps the most important achievement.

Valentina Matvienko, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, made the following statement during the opening ceremony of the pavilion of Azerbaijan: "We see and appreciate the efforts of Mrs. Aliyeva in promoting the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people in international arena. I would like to note Mrs. Aliyeva has an extraordinary ability to make good friends and be one. I think that's why all her efforts are recognised in the world. She became the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador sending the world all the best that is in the soul of the Azerbaijani people."

This year VDNKh celebrates a significant event, the 80th anniversary, and it is among the 50 largest exhibition centres of the world. The exhibition of achievements of national economies receives 30 million visitors annually.

The Azerbaijan Pavilion, considered one of the pearls of this unique exhibition town, was built in 1939. It is based on the project of famous Azerbaijani architects Sadikh Dadashov and Mikayil Huseynov. In subsequent years, the pavilion, like many others on the territory of VDNKh, underwent many changes and reconstructions.

In 2017, with the support of Azerbaijan and under the leadership of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, restoration works began at the pavilion. The goal was to return the original architectural and ethnic appearance of the building. The painstaking restoration efforts were not in vein thanks to contribution of the best specialists from Azerbaijan and Russia, including architects, artists, restorers and cultural historians.

The permanent exhibition hall features national music, carpet weaving, and handicrafts. In addition, the pavilion demonstrates the work of famous Azerbaijani artists. The exposition hall of the pavilion also provides information on the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, the intelligentsia of the country, which played an important role in expanding Azerbaijani-Russian relations. Lectures and conferences on various topics are planned in separate rooms, and in the tourism zone, presentation of information on tourism opportunities in Azerbaijan.

The Trade House presents products manufactured in Azerbaijan. Here one can learn about the products of large local producers, as well as purchase national souvenirs.

After the visit of the First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, we can expect a noticeable revival in both political, humanitarian, and trade and economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia. This visit was another manifestation of the importance that Baku and Moscow attach to friendly relations and the development of a trustful, stable and mutually beneficial partnership.