00:02Mr. President, great to see you as always. Over 40,000 people from 182 countries. This is the
00:10biggest event hosted in Azerbaijan since COP29. What does hosting WUF-13 mean for Azerbaijan
00:19in terms of their international role in shaping the future of sustainable urban development?
00:26So this really is a demonstration that the topic is important and the host country also
00:35is a country which has a lot of international connections. The level of participation and
00:43the number of heads of states and government demonstrates that today urban planning is
00:50really something which many leaders think about. And as I said in my remarks, harmony
00:57between preservation of historical heritage and architectural heritage and need to modernize
01:04the cities should go hand by hand. Azerbaijan has presented smart city and green energy projects,
01:13you know, across Karabakh and also East Zangezur, both areas of post-conflict, you know, and
01:20their rebuilding of those areas. You know, how can you see these projects contributing to global
01:27urban innovation? What can people learn from yourselves?
01:30I think that we have so far elaborated a unique experience how to build cities and villages from
01:37scratch. Connection of electricity grid to the whole country was organized. 75 kilometers of tunnels out of
01:47which 70 kilometers already commissioned and 500 bridge, 435 of these bridges already done. Railroads,
01:59schools, hospitals, so all goes in parallel. And the first years of reconstruction, mainly we invested in
02:08infrastructure. Now we mainly invest in housing. And the city plans, smart cities, smart village concept,
02:17plan for every village, all that is being done. So this really for those countries which suffer the
02:24similar problems like we did, that could be a pattern for reconstruction. Now Azerbaijan has also become a very
02:33important contributor to Europe's energy security. How do you see Azerbaijan's role evolving as Europe diversifies
02:42there? Yeah, we started our cooperation on energy track with Europe some time ago. Especially it, they had a speed
02:52-up
02:52process after 2020 when we commissioned the Southern Gas Corridor, which today provides natural gas for 16 countries.
03:0210 members of the European Union are our clients. And in total, 12 countries from Europe are recipients of
03:10Azerbaijani gas. We need a premium market, which is Europe. And Europe needs an alternative source of
03:16supply, which is Azerbaijan. So we combine our efforts and establish a very fruitful cooperation with the
03:23European Commission. You have been a really big advocate for diplomacy and stability in the region and
03:30beyond. Now the Hormuz crisis is impacting regional and global economies. How is Azerbaijan approaching and
03:39dealing with that? We are not affected by the crisis with respect to the supply chain, because our policy of
03:50diversification of energy supplies and routes is not the policy of today. As you mentioned, advocate for
03:57diplomacy without diplomacy. Without diplomacy, we wouldn't have been able to deliver our resources to the
04:03markets, because we had to go across the countries to have good relations with neighbors, with neighbors of
04:10the neighbors, establish the multilateral format of cooperation, create a win-win situation between producers,
04:18transitors, consumers. So everyone obeys the rules. After the crisis is resolved, hopefully sooner than later,
04:27probably it will be a new situation. Many countries will reconsider their energy policy and the ways of
04:36delivery of energy supplies. And most probably Azerbaijan's geography and already assets will be
04:44needed more than today. Mr. President, always a pleasure to speak to you. Thank you so much for
04:49talking to us today, as always.
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