Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, which brings together Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, will be dynamic, informative, productive and bring the cooperation within the framework of the organization to a higher level, GUAM Secretary General Altai Efendiev said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
The diplomat said that rendering comprehensive assistance to successful implementation of all the goals and objectives of the chairmanship will become his main priority on the new post.
He went on to add that his main priority in the longer term will become strengthening and increasing the capacity of the GUAM Secretariat as a coordinating body that can ensure consistency and continuity in the organization’s activities, increase its dynamics.
“We will endeavor to further consolidate and promote the interests of the GUAM countries, expand and deepen their interaction, development of international cooperation,” he said.
The Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the GUAM, as part of the 25th Ministerial Council meeting, which took place May 15, 2015 in Bratislava, decided to appoint Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan in Spain Altai Efendiev to the post of Secretary General of GUAM.
Altai Efendiev took the post of Secretary General on January 1, 2016, succeeding Georgian diplomat Valeri Chechelashvili.
The diplomat believes that the GUAM as an instrument of regional cooperation should play a greater role in shaping an important region as a zone of peace, stability and dynamic development.
“Azerbaijan, as a country with great economic potential, rich energy resources, developed and modern transport and logistics infrastructure, as a major regional hub located at the crossroads of continents and major transportation and pipeline arteries, has great advantages to consolidate and enhance its role and promote its interests in line with the common interests of the GUAM countries and beyond,” he said.
Efendiev said that Azerbaijan stands out among other member countries of the organization namely because of the above mentioned reasons.
He also emphasized the successful cooperation of the parties in the field of energy. He said that the importance of the GUAM Transport Corridor increasingly grows.
“The Development Concept for the GUAM Transport Corridor adopted in 2013 within the framework of the organization creates a good basis for cooperation in the field of transport,” he said. “The concept has gained special urgency in connection with the development of the so-called New Silk Road, which will significantly reduce the time of delivery of goods from China to Europe.”
