President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta Joseph Muscat.

The head of state noted that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Malta were developing successfully. Expressing his satisfaction with the expansion of cooperation between the two countries, President Ilham Aliyev said a visit of Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta Joseph Muscat to Azerbaijan created a good opportunity for defining prospects of the bilateral ties.

Saying his country attaches great importance to developing relations with Azerbaijan, Maltese PM Joseph Muscat expressed hope that his visit would see fruitful discussions on prospects for development of relations both in bilateral format and within international organizations. Expressing his pleasure with the expansion of the cooperation, Joseph Muscat noted that there was big mutual interest for the development of relations in economic sphere. He stressed the importance of cooperation in energy area, including with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic in terms of the expansion of economic ties.

The Prime Minister said there were good opportunities for the development of cooperation in other spheres. Noting that active work is carried out on a number of documents for a further expansion of relations between the two countries, Joseph Muscat stressed the significance of a Memorandum of Understanding to be signed with Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev said the participation of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic in the project would contribute to the opening of new opportunities for the development of bilateral bonds. The head of state emphasized the importance of developing cooperation between the two countries within the European Union. President Ilham Aliyev said there were ample opportunities for the expansion of ties in the fields of energy, transport, trade and investment making. The head of state noted that economic relations with Malta would contribute to the regional cooperation.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged views over the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and a number of other issues of mutual interest.