PM Janez Jansa expressed Slovenia's support for further strengthening of cooperation between the EU and the Caspian region as he met Azeri President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday as part of the Caspian Outlook 2008 conference at Bled.
Jansa and Aliyev discussed their views of the development of EU neighbourhood policy, which also includes Azerbaijan. Aliyev took this opportunity to outline his country's development plans, which open up new opportunities for cooperation with European economies, particularly in energy.
The meeting between Jansa and Aliyev, who began a three-day official visit to Slovenia, was also attended by Slovenian FM Dimitrij Rupel.
Jansa and Aliyev gave a positive assessment of Slovenian-Azeri relations, and shared a view that there is a great potential to further cooperation, particularly in business.
Bilateral trade is meagre: in the first four months of the year Slovenia's exports were at EUR 1.12m, up over 50% over the year before, while there were no figures for imports. In 2005 trade amounted to EUR 5m.
Talks with President Janez Drnovsek, Aliyev's host, are scheduled for Monday.
Aliyev's is the first visit by a top Azeri official to Slovenia, whereas Azerbaijan was visited in 1994 by then Slovenian FM Alojz Peterle, and by FM Rupel in 2002. Rupel also visited this Central Asian twice as OSCE chair in 2005.
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