State House, Freetown, Friday 23 February 2024 – Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Special Assignment, Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov, and his team have paid a courtesy visit to His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio to discuss bilateral corporations and committed to deepening their over 29-year relationships.
Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov thanked President Bio for allowing them to meet with him and shared warm friendship greetings from His Excellency Ilham Heydar Oghlu Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He extended their deepest condolences to President Bio for the passing of his elder sister.
The Ambassador said President Ilham Aliyev had expressed his desire to seize the opportunity in 2024 to deepen the bilateral relationship with Sierra Leone, as the two countries would be celebrating their 30 years of relationship.
Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov informed President Bio that they would be hosting the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as COP29, in November 2024, adding that President Ilham Aliyev was hoping to meet him.
He congratulated President Bio and the people of Sierra Leone for securing a seat at the United Nations Security Council in the non-permanent member category. He added that Azerbaijan attached a lot of importance to its bilateral relationships with Africa and Sierra Leone in particular.
Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov pleaded with President Bio to join other member states at the UN Security Council to support the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia for the restoration of stability in that part of the world. He said it was about time they closed the chapter of hostility and tried to sign a peace deal in the interest of the two countries.
President Julius Maada Bio welcomed the Special Envoy from the Republic of Azerbaijan to Sierra Leone, confirming how eager he was to engage in deepening the bilateral relationships between the two countries. He acknowledged that a lot was happening in Africa.
President Bio said that world leaders go to the UN Security Council with a unique perspective on global issues, but at the end of the day, a peaceful resolution was always possible. He said the war had always led to deaths, destruction, and more harm, but noted that “now that you have the space available, we will be able to finally bring this matter to a close”.
The President informed the Special Envoy that Sierra Leone’s eleven-year civil war was a war of destruction and killing that ended up on a peace table. He said that though his decisions might not be right, he believed that the experience gathered from the war would help him. He said he would definitely present those ideas at the UN Security Council for a lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
President Bio stated that in terms of their bilateral relationships, Sierra Leone was an ambitious nation wanting to learn and catch up with the rest of the world, which was why he had embarked on human capital development in the last five years.
“Education is existential. It forms the most solid foundation for progress; one that can be shared by everybody.
“This is my second term, and we are paying attention to agriculture and food security to tackle unemployment, stimulate economic growth, and also deal with inflation. So, the multiplier effect of improving agricultural productivity has informed our decision to go for food security because we have a youth population, and we have to make sure that they are provided with the necessary opportunities to be able to explore the wall that lies ahead of them.
“We definitely cherish this relationship beyond just multilateral issues, which we will definitely work on. You can always count on us. We will cooperate at different levels on matters of interest, but we also want to learn from you what you have successfully done elsewhere,” President Bio emphasised.
For More Enquiries: State House Media and Communications Unit
info@statehouse.gov.sl
