Excellency Mr. Sami Al-Daud, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jordanian Post,

Excellency Aydarbek Tumatov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan

First of all, I would like to welcome all of you for participation on the opening ceremony of Postage Stamps of Azerbaijan.

The history of the post office and postage stamps in Azerbaijan dates back to the Safavid era. The main period of development of the postal system is the period when Azerbaijan was part of the Russian Empire and the USSR, the 19th-20th centuries. With the collapse of the USSR, there is a lag in the development of postal communication in independent Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan issues its first postage stamps in 1992. Azerbaijan has been a member of the Universal Postal Union since April 1, 1993, and a participant in the WADP Numbering System since 2002.

The first national stamps in Azerbaijan were issued much earlier - in 1919 during existence of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, which was the first democratic Republic on the Muslim East. Those stamps depict a soldier holding a tricolor flag, the National attribute of the Democratic Azerbaijan and a weapon.

After "Azermarka" started its activity in 1992, the field of philately began to develop more successfully in our country. So, from that period, 1140 postage stamps, 14 types of marked and hundreds of unmarked postal envelopes related to various topics were prepared and put on sale.

In a short period of time, Azerbaijani postage stamps have aroused great interest among world philatelists. Today, postage stamps of Azerbaijan are successfully displayed at international philatelic exhibitions held in many countries of the world. In addition, 4 National philatelic exhibitions were held in Baku together with the Azerbaijan Philatelic Union.

From 1919 to the present day, 8 catalogs containing samples of all stamps, marked envelopes and postcards, and special stamps issued in circulation in the Republic of Azerbaijan have been published.

Dear friends,

According to the Degree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan the year 2023 is announced as the year of National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. During this year we are celebrating the 100 Anniversary of great Leader Heydar Aliyev, who is the founder of modern Azerbaijan.

This year we are celebrating as well as the 30^thAnniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Jordan.

We dedicate this exhibition to these great celebrations.

It is necessary to mentioned that on December 13, 1994, the historic meeting between the National Leader of Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev and King Al-Hussein Ibn Talal of Jordan at the OIC Summit in Casablanca, Morocco opened a new page in the history of Azerbaijan-Jordan relation.

The friendship and solidarity ties which were established between His Excellency Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, official visits of two heads of states created the foundation for the cooperation ties between the two brotherly countries in various fields.

 The Embassies were opened in both capitals.

Due to wise policy and strong political will of Heads of State, the cooperation between two countries will continue to develop on a rising line. I believe that friendly and brotherly relations, which have been formed over the last 30 years will be strengthened for the benefit of our brotherly countries and peoples.

Taking this opportunity, I would like extend our profound thanks to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Jordanian Post to make this exhibition possible.

Thank you for your attention.