Azernews.Az

A conference titled "Azerbaijan and Southern Gas Corridor: Transatlantic Perspective" has been held in Rome, the capital city of Italy, AzerTag state news agency reported.

The event was organized by the Institute of International Relations.

Addressing the conference, head of the international relations department of the Unicredit Bank Luca Ranieri spoke of the importance of discussions to be held as part of the conference.

He described the "Trans-Adriatic Pipeline" (TAP) project as an important step for the establishment of bilateral ties between Europe and Asia.

Ranieri added that the Unicredit Bank was interested in making investments in Azerbaijan. He added Azerbaijan has become a reliable partner for Europe.

Director of the Institute of International Relations Ettore Greco highlighted the importance of the conference organized by the Institute of International Relations as part of the events concerning Azerbaijan.

He noted the goal of the conference was to discuss Azerbaijan's domestic and foreign policy, position in international arena, ways to solve existing problems in the region, implement projects concerning the Caspian energy resources, bilateral bonds between the European Union and Azerbaijan.

Nona Mikelidze, the researcher at the Institute of International Relations and Ariel Cohen of U.S. Heritage Foundation also addressed the event.

Azerbaijani ambassador to U.S. Elin Suleymanov noted the signing of the Shah Deniz 2 Final Investment Decision was a step towards the implementation of the TAP project. The Ambassador praised the implementation of the Shah Deniz 2 project as a realization of the Southern Gas Corridor project.

The Ambassador also spoke of Azerbaijan's new energy strategy and noted the Contract of the Century was the beginning of the country's achievements gained in this direction.

Deputy Director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center of the Atlantic Council David Koranyi and researcher at the Institute of International Relations Nicolo Sartori spoke of the current state of Europe's energy market, and stressed the importance of the TAP project.