The former Vice President of the Islamic Development Bank, H.E. Sayed Aqa, in an interview with Ednews TV at the 3rd International Conference on Mine Action, lauded the significant progress made by the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) over the years.

Reflecting on his time in Baku, he stated, "Well, the last trip, as I said, I left in Baku for one year. I worked with ANAMA. We worked together to establish the basis for national capacity." He praised the collaborative efforts between ANAMA and the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), noting their substantial growth since his tenure.

"ANAMA, with the IEPF, have grown significantly since then. You're doing great work. Yesterday was quite impressive to see the difference between those days and now," he observed. The ex-VP highlighted the remarkable development in mine action and demining initiatives, emphasizing the crucial support from the Azerbaijani government.

"In ANAMA, at those days in 2000, they were learning, but now they're giving their experiences to other countries, which is quite good for Azerbaijan and for mine action globally," he noted. He expressed his admiration for the professionalism and progress in mine action, particularly its role in supporting development activities and the repatriation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to newly liberated areas.

"It was quite refreshing to see that the mine action is done in support of development activities, the repatriation of former IDPs in the newly liberated areas. I think this is what mine action should be. And it was quite refreshing and quite encouraging to see this level of professionalism and also releasing land for productive use," he concluded.

The 3rd International Conference on Mine Action, themed “Mitigating Environmental Impact of Landmines: Resource Mobilization for Safe and Green Future,” continues to highlight the importance of integrating mine action with broader development goals.