PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN URGES JAPAN TO INVEST IN OIL INFRASTRUCTURE

Pravda, Russia
March 9 2006

Azerbaijan’s president on Thursday urged Japanese companies to invest
in his nation’s oil infrastructure, saying he hoped the Caucasus
country will soon become a major oil exporter.

President Ilham Aliev, in Tokyo on a four-day trip, told Japanese
Foreign Minister Taro Aso that Azerbaijan had implemented a range of
social and economic policies and had “high expectations” for increased
Japanese investment, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Aliev
told Aso he hoped Azerbaijan would soon become a major exporter of
oil and natural gas, according to the statement.

Aso said Tokyo was interested in maintaining strong bilateral
ties because of Azerbaijan ‘s importance, geopolitically and as an
oil-producing nation.

Aliev was slated to meet Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday.

Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas reserves. But development of those
reserves has been hindered by conflict with neighboring Armenia over
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within
Azerbaijan.

The 18-year dispute, in which at least 30,000 people have been killed
and 1 million made refugees, has affected stability throughout the
strategic and oil-rich Caucasus region, reports the AP.