Italy wants closer economic cooperation with Azerbaijan

The decision to choose the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project as a corridor for pumping Azerbaijan’s gas to Europe “is very important for Italy and the major part of Europe,” Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Sunday at a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilhan Aliyev. Using cooperation in the energy sector, “Azerbaijan and Italy are consolidating economic and political ties, raising them at a higher level,” said Letta, who was on a one-day official visit to Baku. “We want to achieve a more considerable progress in our economic cooperation.” According to the Italian prime minister, Italy’s Confederation of Employers and the Association of Builders plan to send a delegation to Azerbaijan in early November. “The goal of this visit is to expand bilateral cooperation,” he noted. The Azerbaijani president, in turn, noted that the agenda of the Azeri-Italian relations “is very wide and embraces political, economic and energy spheres.” “In the recent years, Italy and Azerbaijan have established close partner relations,” Aliyev said. “We also think that bilateral relations should be raised to a higher level.”