Foreign

‘Selection of TAP has been economic driven decision’

Baku. Victoria Dementieva – APA. APA interview with Ambassador of France to Azerbaijan Pascal Meunier on occasion of the National Holiday of France – Bastille Day

Mr. Ambassador, how do you estimate the current level of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and France? How successful has it developed during the past 20 years since establishing diplomatic relations between the countries?

France has been one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan. It was second after Turkey. So it became a tradition that the President of Azerbaijan makes his first trip abroad to France after his election. It was the case for Heydar Aliyev and again for incumbent president Ilham Aliyev. I think that there is a long tradition of friendship between France and Azerbaijan.

France acknowledges that Azerbaijan plays a role of stability in the region and appreciates its policy of tolerance between religions. And this is also appreciated by different organizations, such as UNESCO, ISESCO etc. For us, French people, it is something very important. We have a Muslim community in France of almost 10% of our population and I am willing to encourage the dialogue between our Muslim community and Azerbaijan. The Rector of the mosque of Bordeaux Imam Tareq Oubrou has paid two visits to Azerbaijan and has organized in Bordeaux a seminar with the participation of Azerbaijan people who outlined what Azerbaijan has achieved in terms of tolerance. And this is a positive message of Azerbaijan to the world.

France considers itself as a friend of Azerbaijan, even if we are separated by 4 000 kilometers and despite the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has too often been identified by Azerbaijani as a source of unfriendly feelings of French people towards Azerbaijan. But I can say, this is not the case. France plays an active role in his capacity of co-chair of Minsk Group in order to find a peaceful and lasting solution to this pending and painful issue.

France enjoys good and constructive diplomatic relationships with Azerbaijan both bilateral and as regards cooperation in the framework of international organizations. We appreciate the support given by your country in UN Security Council for resolutions on Syria, Iran. We support a strong and independent Azerbaijan.

What are the developments in energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and France?

French energy companies are widely present in Azerbaijan.  In the field of economy we have TOTAL. French energy companies are widely present in Azerbaijan.  In the field of economy we have TOTAL.  TOTAL which is present in Shah Deniz II as an investor has been chosen by the Azerbaijani government to develop Absheron, as an operator, which is significant responsibility.

Energy is a key field of activity in France and we have among the best engineer schools in the world. By the way, recently the CEO the Institute of French Petroleum – one of the best schools in Europe, I think, to train engineers in the field of oil and gas, visited Baku and signed a memorandum of understanding with Baku Higher Oil school.

I think France has an industry which can also serve the needs of Azerbaijan in the field of diversification. We have good infrastructure in the field of transportation and French companies are ready to participate in relevant projects in Azerbaijan.  France’s industry is present in the metro modernization project in all segments – civil work, signaling and rolling-stock. We are facing strong international competition, we have good skills and hope that French companies will win. French industry is represented by engineering firm ‘Systra’, which has been chosen by Azerbaijan, in a consortium with other firms from Czech Republic and Korea, to assist the Baku metro in the engineering work, the master plan of the expansion project and the preparation of tender documents.

Also French companies are also interested in the modernization process of the Azerbaijan state railways, namely, the modernization of the signaling system in Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project and of locomotives complying with the most modern standards. 

Beyond urban and railway transport, we also presented in air transport. As you know, AZAL has recently purchased new long haul Airbus A340. That for me is also a part of French interest present in Azerbaijan.

There are some more projects we are working on in the field of tourism, agriculture, civil works for hotels. France has good skills in architecture, hotel building. So I would try to push French companies to come here.

What is the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and France?

Our trade turnover is rather low. Last year we exported only 160 mln euros of goods, which is well below our potential and way behind our imports which totaled 1.7 billion euros. This year starts with more promising results at 184 mln euros of sales for the 5 first months which is more in line with my commitment towards my government to attain 1.5 billion euros of exports of French product and services in the three coming years.

It would be quite a big leap forward.

How could you comment the Shah Deniz consortium choice on the project to deliver Azeri gas to Europe?

Yes, the choice has been made for TAP. And it was very important decision and a major step in the implementation of the South corridor project. 

We think this decision was economically driven, not the least because the shareholders are private companies. It was mainly, if not completely, led by economics, so TAP was the best solution. I think the French government has no reason to be disappointed. TOTAL is one of the Shah Deniz II shareholders, and I heard that TAP has offered the French company GDF-Suez, which is a major buyer of gas and is present in Italy, to join the project in terms of partnership in gas transportation.

TAP is a reliable transit way. So now we only have to wait for the final investment decision of the shareholders for the development of the second phase of the Shah Deniz project.

Azerbaijan launched its satellite into space in cooperation with a French company. How else Azerbaijan and France can cooperate in the space sphere? What are the perspectives?

It was very important event. For me it was a historical event, ranking Azerbaijan among the select Club of space countries. Now Azerbaijan has its own satellite. It was produced by an American manufacturer, but was launched by a French company Arianespace and was successfully put into orbit according to the plans.

Azerbaijan decided to launch a second communication satellite as well as an observation satellite. So there will be a competition. France has a long history in space. France has different companies in the space industry, which are already world leaders, like Arianespace, Thales Alenia Space and EADS-Astrium. They are competing everywhere in the world markets. We have the technology to take part in the competition here both for the observation satellite and the communication satellite. Our competitors are mainly from the US, Israel, South Korea, so it is a tough competition, but I do my best in supporting them.

Any other new projects in education sphere planned? Could you tell us about activity of French lyceum opened in Baku this year?

For me it is also a priority. Education is an investment in the future. And you cannot have a strong economic cooperation if you do not prepare also engineers, different managers to support such cooperation. So we are active in the field of education in 3 different ranges – pupils, students and vocational trainings.

In September this year the Baku French Lyceum is to be opened in the Baku Talents Education Complex. It will be welcoming pupils from the age of 3. We are opening 3 classrooms for the children from 3 to 5 with French teachers. And for upper grades (children from 6-17) we will set up a remote tuition.  French tutors will support the pupils in their education programs which would be mainly led by The National Centre for Remote Education (Centre national d'enseignement à distance, Cned). This is worldwide and very efficient system. My children also studied through these programs.

The tuition fee will be 5500 AZN per year for the classes with children from 3 to 5, 6000 AZN - for elementary school and 7000 AZN – for high school. So far we have received 40 enrollments.

Our Embassy also has organized in June the first forum of France- Azerbaijan Universities. 12 Universities from France participated in the forum, which has been attended by 170 students, from Aerbaijan. Some agreements have been made, including Diplomatic Academy of Azerbaijan and Sciences-Po Lille. The purpose of such forum is to encourage studies in France, where we have remarkable universities and foster the learning of French language which will help young people secure jobs in French companies in Azerbaijan. This extremely important because knowing the language of your potential employer gives the students an additional advantage in their future employment.

And the third goal is to address to vocational trainings for middle management, workers and employees. 

What are the developments in cooperation in tourism sphere?

There is lot of potential here in the field of tourism and French companies are interested to come, but there are three elements which need to be improved.

As tourism operators say, if you want to attract more tourists and develop the tourism field you have to be most competitive in terms of visa application process, prices policy and quality of hotels and services provided, and we have decided to co-operate with Azerbaijan in the field of vocational training in order to improve the quality of services offered to foreign tourists.

Azerbaijan is a beautiful country, but a rather expensive destination. So foreign tourists would expect to get the best quality.  In addition, some French companies are looking at investing in Azerbaijan in eco-tourism. So the potential exist.

Previously you mentioned about the establishment of the Bureau of Chamber of Commerce France-Azerbaijan in Baku. How is the work in this direction going on?

It is still my aim. It has been more difficult than I thought for many reasons. There is a Franco-Azerbaijan chamber of commerce in Paris which was established in 1996 under the patronage of President Heydar Aliyev and it has been operating since then.

Secondly, the legal issues are not easy in Azerbaijan. I underestimated the legal issues and legal processes. I took the files myself and met with minister of justice of Azerbaijan to register the NGO created to promote business and cooperation. He promised to look at the file quickly. So there we are.

But at the same time there is a lot of potential to develop the cooperation and my ambition for 2013-2014 is to develop relationship in consumer goods.

I have already interviewed a few people who could be joining the Chamber of commerce. So in terms of preparation we are ready, because we have people, financial support from different companies. So when we have the green light from ministry of justice, I think we can set up the Chamber very quickly.

And from the beginning we will invite big Azerbaijani companies to join us. Hope it will be opened before the end of 2013.

How do you estimate the legal base between our countries? Are any new agreements planning to be signed in near future?

There are a lot of issues being negotiated.  A technical agreement in the field of defense, and IT, protection of women rights agreements are also to be signed.

Mrs Hijran Huseynova visited France in April. She was received by France’s minister for women’s rights Mrs Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who promised to come to Azerbaijan when she would find the appropriate time. I hope she will come before the end of the year and will sign the agreement to promote a common position in the field of protection women rights in different international fora, such as the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the UN.

So we have a lot of documents ready, and now we only need to find the right moment for ministers of both countries to meet somewhere and to sign it.

New ideas proposed by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and being discussed with ministers designed to move forward Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution  process. How do you see the prospects on the conflict resolution at the moment?

So what can France do? I can tell you, the first Lady Mrs. Merhiban Aliyeva went to Paris in her capacity of Chairman of the friendship group of both parliaments. She has been received by the President of the French National Assembly, Mr. Claude Bartolone and he offered to organize in Paris a meeting between the two Franco-Armenian and Franco-Azerbaijani friendship groups. And when PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon visited Baku he said that he also would propose such a meeting in Strasbourg.

There is a very important sentence in a recent statement issued by presidents of OSCE Minsk group Co-chairs countries at G8 summit. “The leaders should prepare people for peace, not war”. The position of the French government is to find a solution. We are very committed to this and have organized many meetings in Paris. Our Foreign minister will meet again with Mr. Mammadyarov in Paris in the near future. So it is an issue that we discuss both with Armenia and Azerbaijan. We want to organize in France, in Strasbourg and also in Paris, meetings with Armenians and Azerbaijani people.

The time for reconciliation has come. It is also an approach supported by the European Union, which also has proposed to organize contacts between people. It is very important. You can not reconcile two nations if they are told by governments that they are enemies. It is something that has to be done. I think it is understood by both sides of the conflict and we hope it will be reflected in actions.

And what was the reaction from both sides on the proposal to organize such meeting?

We have not received any reaction yet

The co-chairs organize meetings with ministers in Paris quite often? Does this mean that France is ready to play a more active role in resolving the conflict?

There is not any rivalry between the three co-chairs, they work together as a team. Paris sometimes happens to be a very convenient place, because it is between the US and the Caucasus. But such meetings also took place in Krakow. So Paris is very happy to help, but it does not try to show-up.

All three co-chairs has role to play. Russia as a very important actor in this region, geographically, economically, militarily and in terms of population – a lot of Armenians and Azerbaijanis live and work in Russia. The US being a world power is also an important one. And France is very close to this region, not only because we have half a million people of Armenian decent leaving among us but we are also close to Azerbaijan and we don’t like unresolved conflicts, because we know from history how the population suffers from unresolved conflicts. So we could be a good broker.

All three countries work as a team. Because I do not think that one of them can solve the problem without its two partners.

Many observers are not expecting a breakthrough in negotiations this year because of major elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan. But it does not mean that it will be a lost year. I think it is a year to prepare new ideas and to discuss it with both sides. And, in itself, is also a step forward.

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