Ilham Aliyev
The delegates are also attending the 11th meeting of the council of heads of CIS state news agencies in Baku.
President Aliyev welcomed the visitors yesterday and stressed the importance of such meetings in promoting mutual understanding.
“From this standpoint, many depend on the work of the news agencies and of the mass media as a whole," he said. “The efficient and timely dissemination of accurate information means that the right decisions can be accepted and ongoing processes commented upon and plays a valuable role in establishing bilateral and multilateral relations between countries.”
Noting that Azerbaijan plays an active role in integration processes in the CIS, the president said that the Baku meetings were important in terms of new trends in cooperation among the media.
He highlighted the country's socio-economic achievements last year. Despite the crisis in the world economy, Azerbaijan was able to see through all its projects successfully. The president also touched upon Azerbaijan's foreign policy, stressing that it was aimed at long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation.
The president dwelt on the importance of the involvement of the Russian delegation.
The head of state said several news agencies, hundreds of newspapers and electronic media outlets functioned in Azerbaijan. He said that important qualitative changes had occurred in this field. Aliyev expressed hope that the Baku meetings would be productive and recommended that new formats be sought for the exchange of information in the CIS.
The president said that relations among the CIS countries were still developing, in particular, in the media. He stressed the need to maintain the dynamic in humanitarian cooperation.
“I believe that CIS countries and neighbouring nations are also keen on cooperation,” Aliyev said.
The director general of Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency, Vitaly Ignatenko, said the Baku meetings were a good opportunity to discuss a variety of media issues.
The meeting was also addressed by the director general of Turkey's Anatolia news agency, Hilmi Bengi.
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