On May 5, an international conference entitled "National Leader Heydar Aliyev's foreign policy priorities" was organized by the Center of the Analysis of International Relations and the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with support by the "BP Azerbaijan".

Farid Shafiyev, Chairman of the board of the AIR Center, spoke at the conference's opening ceremony about the main characteristics of Heydar Aliyev’s foreign policy and strategic decisions which created conditions for the development of Azerbaijan.

Speaking about Heydar Aliyev, Academician Urkhan Alakbarov, Rector of Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, emphasized the necessity of inclusive development which put forward as a state policy in the 1990s. Urkhan Alakbarov stated that National Leader Heydar Aliyev underlined the development of human capital and its contribution to the country's economy.

Following the opening, the conference proceeded with panel discussions.

During the first panel of "Heydar Aliyev's multi-vector foreign policy." Hasan Ulusoy - chairman of the Center for Strategic Studies under Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, vice-president of the Council of the Congress of World News Agencies, Mikhail Gusman, the first deputy general director of TASS information agency, Tedo Caparidze - the former minister of foreign affairs of Georgia, and Valeh Alasgarov - the chairman of the board of the authorized body of Alat Free Economic Zone, spoke about Heydar Aliyev's pragmatic and multi-vector foreign policy. It was stated that National Leader Heydar Aliyev's long-term policies contributed significantly to the region's stability.

The second panel meeting "Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and Heydar Aliyev" was moderated by AIR Center board member Gulshan Pashayeva, with speakers including Chairman of Turkey's Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Foundation Akkan Suver, former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza, Ziyafat Askerov, Chairman of the Defense, Security and Anti-Corruption Committee of the Milli Majlis, Tofik Abbasov, the former press secretary of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Naghi Ahmadov, the AIR Center's leading adviser. Heydar Aliyev's decisions in context of the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict were addressed in the speeches. The National Leader took significant strategic actions to address Azerbaijan's challenges.

The former US coordinator for Eurasian energy diplomacy, ex-ambassador Stephen R. Mann, BP Azerbaijan's communication and foreign relations manager in the Caspian region, vice president Bakhtiyar Aslanbeyli, and AIR Center leading adviser Metin Mammadli spoke at the third panel meeting titled "Heydar Aliyev's Energy Strategy," moderated by AIR Center's board member Esmira Jafarova. It was said that, as in all aspects of socioeconomic life, energy strategy employed by Heydar Aliyev made groundwork for today’s Azerbaijan’s cooperation with global and especially European companies in various industries.