November 12th, 2015 -The Ambassador of Azerbaijan Vaqif Sadiqov passed by Florence yesterday morning, and at Palazzo Vecchio met with the Commissioner for Cooperation and International Relations Nicoletta Mantovani. The meeting strengthened the already consolidated link between Florence and Azerbaijan, as the visit is emblematic of the positive institutional relations initiated several years ago. And so, future collaboration between the two can now take off, particularly in the cultural, musical, artistic, economic, tourist and medical science fields. In particular, Sadiqov looked forward to strengthening the stable and continuous relationship with the city of Florence, and proposed the Administration visit Baku with local companies, so that the visit could combine two aspects: the political-institutional one and the economic commercial one. The Ambassador proposed a closer cooperation between Florence and the town of Shaki, characterized by a rich archaeological and cultural heritage. The Ambassador also congratulated the success of Expo 2015, where Azerbaijan was present with its own pavilion and where it obtained great success and attendance levels. Sadiqov stressed that Azerbaijan is experiencing a strong economic expansion and that institutions intend to promote development and industrial modernization as well as the protection and enhancement of their national identity. Government authorities want to promote fruitful relations in the economic-commercial field of culture with Italian local and regional institutions: Sadiqov also underlined that there are already intense collaborations and exchanges going on with Italian economic and industrial realities in different sectors: education, universities, tourism, and scientific medicine. (Red)