Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev Holds Expanded Meeting with President of Laos
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Laos' President Thongloun Sisoulith held a meeting in an expanded format on 13 October 2026. The sides discussed the bilateral agenda, including political and economic spheres.
Abdulrahman Sadikhli3 min read
On 13 October 2026, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, held a meeting in Baku in an expanded format with the President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Thongloun Sisoulith. The media published photographs from the meeting.
Before that, the heads of state held a one-on-one meeting, and then continued discussions with the participation of delegations. Opening the expanded session, Ilham Aliyev addressed the guest with a welcoming speech.
"Once again, welcome, Mr. President. I am very glad that you accepted my invitation and are visiting Azerbaijan. I am confident that the visit will strengthen our bilateral ties and create new opportunities for cooperation." "We have just held a one-on-one meeting. At it, we broadly discussed the bilateral agenda, including the political and economic spheres and other areas of mutual interest. Now we will continue the discussions with the participation of delegations."
Aliyev noted that he counts on the further strengthening of political ties and the development of the economic direction.
"I believe that the further strengthening of our political ties would be the best result of your visit. We are good friends and actively cooperate on the international arena. Of course, we want to see more active development of the economic sphere. I looked at some indicators — they are very small, but they have great potential. I think your visit will give an impetus to economic cooperation between us. As I noted at the one-on-one meeting as well, we are ready to consider practical investment projects in your country. I believe the business circles of both sides will study this opportunity. Also, as we discussed, you will have meetings with the Speaker of the Milli Majlis and the Prime Minister, and the discussions will be continued."
The President of Azerbaijan added that the level of political relations satisfies the sides, and thanked the guest for his forthcoming participation in the summit, where Azerbaijan, according to him, was unanimously elected chairman with the support of all countries.
For his part, the President of Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith, thanked him for the reception and noted the significance of the visit for relations between the two countries.
"This is my first official visit to Azerbaijan as President of Laos. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1995, this is the first visit at the level of head of state and a historic stage."
He recalled that he had last been to Baku and Azerbaijan in 1982, more than forty years ago, and noted that observing the rapid development and transformation of the country with his own eyes made a great impression on him. Sisoulith also mentioned his meeting with Ilham Aliyev at the BRICS+ summit in Kazan in October 2024.
Source: apa.az
