(Communicated by the President's Spokesperson)
The President of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres, will be visiting Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on 28 June - 1 July 2009 for the first state visit by an Israeli president since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the two Muslim states.
President Peres will be accompanied by a delegation of government officials - the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer; the Minister of National Infrastructures, Uzi Landau; the Minister of Science and Technology, Daniel Hershkowitz; and the Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Pinchas Buchris - as personal guests of Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan) and Ilham Aliev (Azerbaijan). Joining the government delegation are 60 senior officials of leading companies in the Israeli economy in the fields of water technology, agriculture, communications and medical technology, and CEOs of defense industries.
The President's Bureau, together with the Export Institute and the Manufacturers' Association, put together a delegation of senior businesspeople from a broad spectrum of the Israeli economy. Some of the companies represented are Ness Technologies, Housing & Construction Holding Company Ltd., ECI Telecom Ltd., Elbit Systems, Elisra Electronic Systems Ltd., Magal Security Systems Ltd., Vertex Venture Capital, and others.
President Peres' visit is intended to strengthen and expand the strategic, political and economic ties between Israel and the two Muslim countries situated between Russia, China and Iran. Both states have high strategic importance in the regional as well as the international arenas and are major suppliers of oil and natural gas to Israel and to the world.
During his visits, President Peres will hold political meetings with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliev and with Prime Minister Artur Rasizade. In Kazakhstan he will meet with the upper political echelon, first and foremost with the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and with Prime Minister Karim Masimov and Senate Speaker Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev. President Peres will bring up for discussion various diplomatic and security issues as well as the potential for economic-technological cooperation between the two states.
In addition, the hosting presidents will each hold a press conference together with President Peres. The Israeli president is also expected to participate in several major events. The president of Kazakhstan has invited him to be the keynote speaker at an inter-religious conference with hundreds of Muslim leaders and religious figures from the Middle East and around the world - including the Qatar Emir, the chief rabbis of Israel and the Minister of Religion Affairs - in attendance.
* * *
President Peres begins visit to Azerbaijan
(Communicated by the President's Spokesperson)
President of Israel Shimon Peres arrived in Azerbaijan on Sunday, 28 June for an historic state visit. He arrived in the capital, Baku, at the head of a delegation which includes three government ministers - Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer; Minister of National Infrastructures, Uzi Landau; and Minister of Science and Technology, Daniel Hershkowitz - as well as the Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Pinchas Buchris, together with 60 CEOs and heads of leading Israeli companies in the fields of security, infrastructures, communications, health and agriculture.
President Shimon Peres at press conference with President Ilham Aliev (Photo: GPO) | |
Shortly after landing in Azerbaijan, President Peres was received in a full state military ceremony in the courtyard of the presidential official reception palace. President Aliev warmly embraced the Israeli president and told him, "I am happy to host you in my country. This is a most important visit for Azerbaijan and we are interested in expanding and strengthening the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel in the areas of security, diplomacy and the economy."
President Peres thanked his host for the warm reception and, at the press conference, said that Israel welcomes deepening the strategic relations between Azerbaijan and Israel. "Israel has been blessed with creativity and one of the highest levels of research and science in the world, and we will gladly invest in Azerbaijan and broaden the cooperation between Israeli and regional companies." President Peres noted, "Israel and Azerbaijan are both countries that must maintain their military strength because we are both under constant threat. At the same time, I am proud that both Israel and Azerbaijan are countries that pursue peace and will do anything to achieve peace with our neighbors."
The Israeli president invited his counterpart to visit Israel and said, "Our door will always be open to you and it would be a great honor to host you in Israel." President Aliev replied, "The diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Israel are much stronger than they seem. Azerbaijan is undergoing an accelerated process of development in the areas of finance, technology, nanotechnology, agriculture, health and infrastructures. I know that Israel has had great achievements in these areas, and so we are interested in upgrading our relations with Israel and in promoting cooperation in these areas."
President Peres thanked President Aliev for the warm attitude shown by the president and the people of Azerbaijan towards the Jewish community and said, "Immigrants from Azerbaijan living in Israel serve as faithful ambassadors of your country in Israel." He added that in his view it is a great achievement that in Azerbaijan people of all faiths enjoy freedom of religion and live in quiet and peaceful amity.
After the reception, the two presidents met alone for an hour and a half, during which they discussed sensitive subjects connected to expanding cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan. Afterwards, a working meeting was held with the participation of the two presidents, the Israeli ministers and their Azeri counterparts, at which each Israeli minister presented a plan for expanding his ministry's cooperation with the Azerbaijan government.
The two presidents were present at a ceremony in which a joint cooperation agreement in the field of communication was signed by Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau and his Azeri counterpart, as well as an agreement in the fields of education, science and technology signed by Science Minister Daniel Hershkowitz and his Azeri counterpart.