Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

The Canadian-Azerbaijani Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group (CAIFG) has held its annual meeting in Canada.

Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Canada Farid Shafiyev attended the event.

The meeting participants discussed the current state and prospects of Azerbaijan-Canada relations in a variety of fields, including politics and economy.

Addressing the participants, Shafiyev emphasized the necessity of developing bilateral ties between the two countries even further and the importance of continuing visits between the two countries' MPs for this purpose. He also said inter-parliamentary cooperation played an important role in expanding these ties.

Chairman of the CAIFG Barry Devolin, in turn, said Canada attached great importance to expansion of relations with Azerbaijan.

The sides also discussed the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, geopolitical situation in the region, as well as Azerbaijan's relations with other countries.

Earlier, Farid Shafiyev had visited Regina, Saskatchewan province, to explore ways of developing bilateral cooperation in a variety of fields. During the visit, Shafiyev met Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan Vaughn Solomon Schofield, Canadian provincial politician Wayne Elhard, Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart, as well as heads of companies and organizations in Saskatchewan. The sides discussed bilateral economic and agrarian relations, and mutual exchange of experiences.

Diplomatic relations between Canada and Azerbaijan were established in August 1992. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $2.47 million in January-March 2013.