General historical background (economic aspect) of the visit of the President of ‎the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev to Germany (July 1-4, 1996) ‎


President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev paid an official visit to Germany at the invitation of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. During the official visit, Heydar Aliyev was in Bonn, capital of the country, Köln and Baden-Wuertemberg, big business and financial centers. In the framework of the visit, he held numerous meetings with the representatives of the government and business circles. Enlargement of economic contacts between the two countries, development of financial-trade relations between the two countries were the priorities of the negotiations. The visit was of great importance from the point of view of stimulating the business opportunities of the German investors and from the point of view of great economic potential, and establishment of financial relations between the two countries.

On the first day of the visit President Heydar Aliyev met Roman Herzog, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, in Bonn, and held discussions on the enlargement and development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. On July 2, he met K. Kinkell, German foreign minister, A. Folmer, deputy chairman of Bundestag, vice-president of Bundestag, chairman of the German-Caucasian Parliamentary Group and members of the group and discussed a number of issues of mutual interest. The following documents regulating the relations between the two countries were signed on that day:

1. "Protocol on the ratification of agreements signed between the Federal Republic of Germany and the former Soviet Socialist Republics";

2. "Agreement on cooperation in the sphere of finance between the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Federal Republic of Germany" (this agreement envisages cooperation between the National Bank of Azerbaijan and Deutsche Bank);

3. "Agreement on the establishment of the fund for researches and specialists between the governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Federal Republic of Germany".

(These documents were ratified with the law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on July 16, 1996) http://www.mga.gov.az/

On July 3, President of Azerbaijan arrived in Köln, a big economic centre of the country. He met the German businessmen here. The Eastern Committee of the German economy and the Union of the German Trade-Industrial Chambers were the organizers of the meeting. Heads of big companies, businessmen from the financial-bank sector and representatives of the press participated at the meeting. Heydar Aliyev made a large speech on the potential opportunities of the economy of Azerbaijan, its natural resources and environment created here for the international business and called the German businessmen to invest in Azerbaijan. At the end of the meeting, he answered the numerous questions of the participants.

Arriving back in Bonn on the same day, President of Azerbaijan met the vice-president of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and vice president of "Siemens" and conducted negotiations here. He also met in Bonn the representatives of Federations of the Azerbaijani communities in Germany and members of the board of directors of German-Azerbaijani Forum and Diaspora of Azerbaijan.

On July 4, 1996, Heydar Aliyev arrived at the consumption centre of the company "Mercedes-Benz", famous car producer in Baden-Württemberg. After meeting the heads of the company, he got acquainted with the pro duction process here. Then a party was given in his honour on behalf of the Steering Committee of "Mercedes-Benz".

This visit, characterized as a part of the economic policy of integration into the European structures, played an important role in the attraction of foreign investment and credits to Azerbaijan. "Siemens", "Ferrostaal", "Thyssen", "InterSelect" companies of Germany successfully function in Azerbaijan as a logical result of this visit. (http://www.mfa.gov.az/)

Appreciating the Azerbaijani-Germany relations during the visit, Heydar Aliyev said: "We consider Germany a strategic partner and establish our relations with it on this basis".

 
General historical background was compiled on November 28, 2008