AZE.US
President Ilham Aliyev said in Tbilisi on April 6 that a new situation is emerging in the South Caucasus, as Azerbaijan and Georgia deepen cooperation in trade, energy and transit, with bilateral turnover already above $800 million.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze delivered press statements in Tbilisi on April 6 after talks focused on bilateral ties, regional security, investment, energy and transport links.
Kobakhidze said Aliyev’s visit was a special honor for Georgia and described relations between the two countries as a strategic partnership built on historic friendship and neighborly ties. He said Georgia welcomes the ongoing peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and remains ready to support dialogue if needed. He also pointed to the rising strategic importance of the Middle Corridor, the Black Sea region and the South Caucasus amid wider geopolitical shifts.
Aliyev said his visit should give fresh momentum to ties between what he called two brotherly countries. He praised Georgia’s economic progress and said political stability had been the key foundation of that development. He added that Baku and Tbilisi have consistently supported each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolable borders in international organizations.
According to Aliyev, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Georgia exceeded $800 million in 2025 and could approach $1 billion by the end of 2026 if current growth continues. He also said Azerbaijani investment in Georgia’s economy has reached $3.7 billion and did not rule out future joint investments by the two countries in third markets.
Aliyev said a fundamentally new reality is taking shape in the South Caucasus and argued that regional countries should not miss the opportunities now opening up. He said the region is gradually turning into a space for peace, stability, security and cooperation, while also highlighting Georgia’s role in that process.
Speaking about the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace track, Aliyev said signed documents alone would not be enough and that peace must be reinforced through practical steps. He pointed to trade as one of the clearest mechanisms and noted that current trade between Azerbaijan and Armenia is being carried out through Georgia, thanking the Georgian government for that role.
Energy and transit featured prominently in the statements. Aliyev said Azerbaijani gas is now exported to 16 countries and that Georgia remains the first country on that route. He said Azerbaijani oil and gas, as well as energy resources from the eastern shore of the Caspian, move through Georgia to global markets. He also highlighted the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which has been operating for 20 years, and the Southern Gas Corridor as infrastructure of major strategic importance across a wide geography.
Aliyev added that transport corridors were later built on top of that energy infrastructure and described the Middle Corridor through Azerbaijan and Georgia as a key transit artery for both countries, with further expansion work ahead. Kobakhidze, for his part, said Azerbaijan remains one of Georgia’s largest trading partners and voiced confidence that high-level political dialogue and growing investment would deepen cooperation even further.