Trading Markets (press release), CA
May 5 2008
HIS MAJESTY KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN`s EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH
AZERTAC (Azerbaijan)
Monday, May 05, 2008; Posted: 12:29 AM 7 Stocks You Need To Know For
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Baku, May 03, 2008 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) — — His
Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan gave an exclusive interview to
Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency, AzerTAc, on the eve of his trip to
Azerbaijan. Here is the full transcript of the conversation:
Your Majesty, how do you evaluate the current relations between Jordan
and Azerbaijan?
King Abdullah: I would like to express my great satisfaction with the
strong brotherly relations between us that we have always been keen to
strengthen in all sectors in order to benefit our peoples. I feel our
enthusiasm is also shared by his Excellency President Ilham Aliyev,
whom I hold in great regard. I appreciate his relentless efforts to
achieve progress and prosperity for the Azeri people.
As you know I was honored to visit your country in August 2006, and in
July 2007 we were delighted to welcome President Aliyev to Jordan. We
are satisfied with the level of our bilateral relations, and we are
determined to advance and deepen them in all sectors, especially in
the economic and commercial fields.
During your visit to Azerbaijan two years ago, which you already
mentioned, and during President Aliyevs visit to Jordan last year,
several documents and agreements were signed. How do you evaluate the
impact of these agreements on cooperation between the two countries,
especially in the economic field? And in general what are the fields
where wider cooperation could be achieved?
As I mentioned before, the two visits were great opportunities to
define the areas where we could expand cooperation between our two
countries. The two visits reflected the mutual interest in building
strong, cooperative relations in all vital sectors, and the bilateral
agreements signed lay the ground for this constructive cooperation.
There are great possibilities to intensify and enhance cooperation in
the economic and investment fields, and to establish mutual projects
that make use of the two countries assets, expertise, and
distinguished geographical location, and that build effective
partnership between the Jordanian and Azeri private sectors. Jordan in
fact could be a springboard for Azerbaijan to Middle Eastern and
European and US markets. At the same time, we think that your country,
at the heart of Asia, could be connection point between the two
regions. I strongly believe that we have valuable unprecedented
opportunities to realize mutual benefits for us and to serve the
peoples of our two countries. We are still at the starting point, and
we hope to move with faster steps in this field.
Azerbaijan is considered an economic corridor between Europe and Asia
because of its distinguished geographical location. The importance of
its role will increase when the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is
operated. What benefits could Jordan reap from this corridor?
We in Jordan realize the importance of your countrys geographical
location. This is a very important feature for strengthening the bonds
of economic and commercial cooperation between Jordan and Azerbaijan,
especially for increasing the volume of trade exchange. We think that
since the Asian and European continents possess tremendous recourses
and great natural riches, the states in these two continents should
strengthen the bridges of cooperation between them, especially as the
world copes with difficult economic challenges due to huge increase in
oil prices and the increasing demand on basic foodstuffs which have
also experienced unprecedented price increases.
To confront these challenges, we believe that intensifying cooperation
between our two countries in the first place, and between states in
the two continents, in the second place, is now a must and highly
desirable.
Our two countries play an important role in this regard.
Your Majesty, your friendship with his Excellency President Ilham
Aliyev is very strong. Does that strong friendship play a role in
strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries?
I am proud of my personal friendship with President Aliyev. We both
agree in our vision for providing a better future for the Jordanian
and Azeri peoples and realize their aspirations for progress and
development. We also share the belief that our two countries can
employ their capabilities in the service of our mutual interests. This
is always emphasized during official discussions, whether at the
summit level, or at the level of senior officials in the two
countries. In this context, I am looking forward to my upcoming visit
to Azerbaijan and to meeting President Aliyev to take another step on
the path of strengthening cooperation between our two brotherly
countries and dealing with all the issues that concern the Muslim
nation.
Your Majesty, how do you see the efforts exerted to realize peace in
the Middle East and South Caucasus areas, especially that Your
Majestys efforts in this field are highly appreciated in Azerbaijan?
It is common knowledge that the Palestinian problem is the core issue
in the Middle East conflict, and it is our conviction that solving the
other interrelated issues in our region depends on our ability to find
a just and permanent solution to the conflict in Palestine. Failure to
realize this goal will only bring more turbulence, violence and
destabilization to the region. We are in continuous contact with all
the concerned parties to encourage Palestinians and Israelis to
overcome obstacles to negotiations on all the final status issues, in
order to establish an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank
and Gaza. In this context, we emphasize that the permanent and just
peace we seek should be based on international resolutions and the
Arab Peace Initiative. This means Israel should refrain from adopting
unilateral policies. Paramount among the things that need to happen is
that Israel needs to stop its aggression against the Palestinian
people in Gaza, to end the siege, and to immediately stop settlement
activities on Palestinian land, so that conditions will be appropriate
for resuming negotiations between the two parties. We hope, at the
same time, that the international communitys support of peace efforts
in the region will continue, including support from the members of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference.
As for the developments related to consolidating security and
stability in South Caucasus, we support every serious endeavor to
ensure that this strategically important region enjoys security and
stability. In this context, we understand Azerbaijans position
regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and we support every sincere
endeavor to find a peaceful solution for this territory that would be
acceptable to the conflicting countries, and that is based on
dialogue, understanding and reaching a common ground between
Azerbaijan and Armenia that guarantees their respective rights.
Thank you for the interview.