Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova who is now in the Republic of Korea on an official visit has had a conversation on 1 November with Speaker of the Korean National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo who told her that her arrival was the first visit of a Head of the Azerbaijani Parliament to Korea in the six years past.

Mr Jin-pyo recalled the visit to Azerbaijan of his predecessor and added that the visit of the Chair of the Milli Majlis to Korea was going to contribute in its own way to an on-going development of the bilateral relations.

The Republic of Korea was one of the countries to start building close ties with Azerbaijan from the very first days of Azerbaijani independence; our diplomatic relations turned thirty last year. Political contacts and high-level visits and meetings play an exceptional role in the advancement of the relationship, Mr Jin-pyo continued.

The economic co-operation features prominently in the inter-state relations. Azerbaijan is Korea’s principal trading partner in the South Caucasus with the volumes of trade on a constant increase. Still, there is clearly a considerable potential to tap to strengthen and diversify our co-operation more.

Kim Jin-pyo also touched on the similar features of Azerbaijan and Korea and underlined the importance of both countries’ geographical positions: Azerbaijan and Korea connect seas and continents. This resemblance pushes our relations forward whilst also bringing our states yet closer together.

Plans to develop Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector further, ‘smart town’ and ‘smart village’ conceptions, the evolution of water systems in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan’s renewable energy programmes being implemented and Korean companies’ involvement in all those fields and initiatives were discussed, too.

Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova referred to fine opportunities to promote a continued growth of the mutually advantageous co-operation across the whole range of sectors of shared interest. Our countries could find new forms of co-operation apart from the established interaction formats and joint efforts made in various organisations, in the opinion of Mrs Gafarova. A collaboration mechanism that would encompass Azerbaijan, Central Asian countries and the Republic of Korea could prove to be one such novelty, one which could generate dramatic opportunities and afford advantages in diverse areas. Mrs Gafarova said she was certain that cultural and linguistic proximity could ensure important outcomes from a partnership between the Republic of Korea and the Organisation of Turkic States.

The importance of humanitarian co-operation was emphasised next. They discussed co-operation in education, sciences and culture. The current presence of 200 Azerbaijani university students in Korea and Azerbaijani and Korean universities using various student exchange and double diploma programmes were brought up as well. Mrs Gafarova then broached the activities of the KOICA and KOTRA offices. Ways to continue furthering this interaction were talked over as well.

Besides, the two parliament speakers reviewed transport co-operation opportunities. The East-West Trans-Caspian Corridor is a dependable and safe route that connects the East and the West. Azerbaijan’s role as a country sporting a modern transport infrastructure and transit potential is on the rise. The transit flow will grow large still with the launch of the Zangazur Corridor, according to Sahiba Gafarova who remarked that Korean companies were going to be able to seize the arising opportunities.

It is gratifying that our parliamentary co-operation in precisely this line has become more intensive of the two years past. On the other hand, there are good opportunities to continue developing the links in this field.

Sahiba Gafarova provided Kim Jin-pyo with ample information about the current state of affairs in our region, Azerbaijan’s having liberated her lands from Armenian occupation during the 2020 Patriotic War, the present-day restoration and reclamation of those provinces and the anti-terrorist measures that Azerbaijan resorted to on 19-20 September. Azerbaijan is keen on regional peace and security; signing the peace treaty will, indeed, bring constant peace to the region, Mrs Gafarova said before stressing certain countries’ reluctance to see the South Caucasus a peaceful place.

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo underlined the necessity of being guided by international law before he mentioned Azerbaijan’s taking great pains to attain peace in her region. The Korean side do hope that those efforts will succeed and Azerbaijan will achieve its peace goal.

Other matters of shared interest including ways to boost co-operation in various areas were discussed as the conversation went on, and after its end the parliamentary delegation of Azerbaijan were shown around the building of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis