Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives at the airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sept. 27, 2018.(Xinhua/Tofik Babayev)

BAKU, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Visiting President of Russia Vladimir Putin expressed hope Thursday that Russian and Azerbaijani companies will jointly implement promising projects in the Caspian region.

Addressing Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum here, Putin said priority areas of collaboration include transport, cargo shipping, oil and gas production, environment, and preservation of bioresources and biodiversity of the Caspian, according to the state-run news agency Azertac.

The Russian leader described the recent signing of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea in Aktau as "a good basis" for cooperation.

Putin hailed trade and economic relations between the two countries, saying Russia's direct investments in Azerbaijan have amounted to more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

"Russia-Azerbaijan Business Council plays a key role in building mutually beneficial business contacts. Last year alone the council contributed to the implementation of 42 joint projects worth a total of nearly 500,000 dollars," he said.

The Russian leader praised "successful" cooperation of the two countries' energy companies. He said that Rosneft in partnership with the Azerbaijani state corporation will soon embark on the exploration and development of Goshadash oil and gas field in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev described Russia as Azerbaijan's number one partner in imports and number one partner in exports of non-oil goods.

He highlighted Azerbaijan-Russia cooperation in transport sector. "The North-South project, which we are implementing together, is yielding fruits. We have had a more than 100-fold increase in cargo transport through this corridor this year compared with the previous year."

"We hope that this corridor will grow into one of the major transport arteries of Eurasia," said Aliyev.

The Azerbaijani leader also lauded "a considerable" increase in the number of Russian citizens visiting his country. "Nearly 700,000 Russians visited Azerbaijan in less than nine months this year," he added.

The Russian president arrived in Baku on Thursday for a one-day working visit.

Prior to the Interregional Forum, Putin and Aliyev were joined by Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga as they watched mixed team competitions of the World Judo Championships here.