Operativ Media reports that President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke first, saying:

-Dear Ilham Heydar oglu, welcome to Uzbekistan once again. Every meeting of ours is historic. Today's visit is also historic. Today we thoroughly reviewed all areas and every single project, and Ilham Heydar oglu provided very serious support. We adopted a new Roadmap and reached an agreement to bring trade turnover to one billion dollars. Of course, this is not the limit.

Dear friends, the visit of the President of Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan is a historic event. We must constantly account to ourselves for the work done and what we have achieved thanks to the will of the two leaders. This is a major achievement reached in a short period of time. I told Ilham Heydar oglu that there had been no results between us for 27 years. Those who understand will grasp this. Thus, today we are opening a new page in strengthening bilateral relations. We sincerely admire the achievements of brotherly Azerbaijan. Dear Ilham Heydar oglu, under your leadership, Azerbaijan is achieving great success in the country's development and on the international stage. As a close friend, close neighbor, and ally, we always rejoice at these results. By restoring the country's territorial integrity, you united your people once again. You are worthily continuing the work of your great father, esteemed Heydar Aliyev, and consistently fulfilling his wise testaments, wishes, and aspirations. During my visits to Azerbaijan, I personally witnessed the immense transformations taking place in Karabakh and the dynamic development of the region. I always say that Azerbaijan is our close, reliable, and time-tested friend and partner.

For centuries, the peoples of the two countries have been united by fraternal relations, shared history and religion, similar culture, language, and traditions. Ilham Heydar oglu, you have made a great contribution to the development of multifaceted cooperation with Uzbekistan. You have been at the forefront of the alliance between our countries.

I am confident that the Treaty on Eternal Friendship will enrich our relations with new substance. Today, it gives me particular pleasure to present this prestigious award – the highest-degree 'Dostluq' (Friendship) Order – to you, a true friend of our country. This is a symbol of respect and gratitude for your major contribution to strengthening eternal friendship, strategic partnership, and allied relations between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart. I wish you robust health, continued success in your high state post, and peace and prosperity to the brotherly Azerbaijani people. You know, I am very glad this is happening. I signed the decree with great pleasure and took pride in this day coming. Ilham Heydar oglu, I congratulate you on this occasion. This is the highest order of the Uzbek state, and you can be sure you deserve it. Congratulations.

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President Shavkat Mirziyoyev presented the highest-degree "Dostluq" Order to the Azerbaijani head of state.

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Speaking next, President Ilham Aliyev said:

-Dear Shavkat Miromonovich.

Dear friends.

First of all, I sincerely thank you for such a high assessment of my activity. As you said, being awarded the highest degree – in Azerbaijani it also sounds like this, 'Ali dərəcəli' – the Order of 'Dostluq' is a great honor for me. I would like to wholeheartedly thank you for such brotherly attitude. As I have already said, this is a great honor for me, and I will continue to spare no effort to be worthy of this high award and to work toward strengthening the friendship and brotherhood between our peoples and states.

Shavkat Miromonovich noted the strategic allied nature of our relations in his speech. We have achieved this in a relatively short period of time. Looking at the chronology of my visits to Uzbekistan, the most intensive period falls over the last four to five years. During this period, this is already my seventh visit to Uzbekistan, while Shavkat Miromonovich has visited Azerbaijan even more often over the same timeframe.

This is merely statistics. But behind these statistics, first and foremost, lie our common roots, the closeness of our peoples, our cultures, languages, and traditions, our sincere attitude toward one another, and centuries-long friendship between the Uzbek and Azerbaijani peoples. This is the very foundation – of course, how we strengthen this edifice of our brotherhood, what projects we implement, and how we jointly participate in various initiatives aimed at mutual cooperation and the development of our countries.

Of course, receiving this high award, I would like to highlight the special role of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev in strengthening our bilateral relations, his sincere attitude toward our people, and his assistance in the reconstruction of Karabakh. I have already spoken about this today, and everyone in Azerbaijan knows that the first president and the first country in the world to assist us in rebuilding Karabakh was President Mirziyoyev and Uzbekistan.

Naturally, every time I visit Uzbekistan, I have traveled to many places and witnessed how Tashkent has become more beautiful, how buildings, streets, and infrastructure have taken on a new appearance, and how all this work has been carried out with great taste, great love, and high quality. My dear brother's 'New Tashkent' project is a rare masterpiece of modern urban planning, the result of his vision regarding the future development of the Uzbek capital.

Of course, this is also a symbol of Uzbekistan's development and power. Not every country has the capability to build cities from scratch. I must also add how Samarkand has transformed. I remember this well from my first visit and from our relatively recent presence there. Khiva, which I visited during my previous trip, also left a wonderful impression. The preservation of historical monuments, attention to historical architecture, and modern urban development form a complete and harmonious unity. All of this is the result of Shavkat Miromonovich's purposeful work to strengthen Uzbekistan, enhance the country's potential, and develop its economy and industry.

Today, we talked a lot about joint projects in agriculture, industry, mining, and energy. However, none of this would have been possible without the potential of our countries. Without this foundation, we would not be able to think about joint projects, but only about how to improve matters domestically. Today, we are focusing on mutual cooperation and joint investments. Joint investments will amount to billions of dollars. These are no longer just plans, but concrete projects, concrete contracts, and our concrete investment initiatives. Of course, as a friend and brother, I would like to congratulate dear Shavkat Miromonovich on all achievements. We sincerely rejoice at this. For his great contribution to strengthening our bilateral relations based on brotherhood and alliance, I signed a decree awarding Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev Azerbaijan's highest state decoration – the 'Heydar Aliyev' Order.

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President Ilham Aliyev presented the "Heydar Aliyev" Order to the Uzbek head of state.