Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met with the visiting delegation led by President of the Pan-African Parliament Fateh Boutbig on 16 September.

Recalling fondly the meeting with the guest on the margins of the Conference of Speakers of National and Regional Parliaments of the Pan-African Parliament in the Republic of South Africa in July this year, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis voiced the appreciation of the high organisational level of that event and of the invitation to take part in it.

The important role of the Pan-African Parliament in promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue in the African Continent as well as in expanding co-operation amongst the Member States and furthering the common development goals was mentioned at the meeting as well.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova remarked that the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan attaches special significance to developing relations with the parliaments of the African countries. Development of parliamentary diplomacy, continued expansion of inter-parliamentary ties and strengthening of political dialogue are of outstanding importance in this regard.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis talked at the meeting about the activities of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network (NAMPN) and the Non-Aligned Movement Youth Organisation (NAMYO), both established upon the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev. She also touched upon the work done and the initiatives proposed by our country during the period of Azerbaijani chairmanship in the NAMPN. Then, the Speaker expressed a confidence that the Pan-African Parliament will evolve to become another successful platform for the development of our ties with the African national parliaments.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova mentioned that the guest, whilst representing the Pan-African Parliament, is also Member of the Parliament of Algeria. She referred to the contentment caused by our countries’ bilateral relations on various planes.

President of the Pan-African Parliament Fateh Boutbig thanked for the hospitality extended to him before stressing that Azerbaijan is the first country outside Africa that he visited following his election to the current position. The guest talked of the growing role of parliamentary diplomacy and voiced the preparedness of the organisation is leads for co-operation with national parliaments as well as with international parliamentary organisations.

Describing this visit as a step of importance for co-operation, Fateh Boutbig said that the Memorandum to be signed between the Pan-African Parliament and the NAMPN today will serve the cause of raising the co-operation between the two parliamentary organisations to a new level whilst also promoting creation of a solid foundation for future activities.

Opinions were exchanged at the meeting as to development of the co-operation between the Pan-African Parliament and the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network. Other matters were broached as well.

With the meeting over, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Pan-African Parliament and the NAMPN. The document was signed by the Speaker of the Milli Majlis and the NAMPN Sahiba Gafarova and President of the Pan-African Parliament Fateh Boutbig. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova remarked that the document marked a substantial step being taken in the course of the on-going development of the co-operation between the two parliamentary platforms.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis