Poland backs Azerbaijan's quest to join the World Trade Organisation and supports its efforts to build closer ties with the European Union and NATO, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Wednesday after talks with Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev.

"Poland will back Azerbaijan's adhesion to the WTO. It is clear to us that this country has earned its place in the organisation," Kwasniewski told reporters at a joint press conference with Aliyev.

"We back the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union and NATO, and are prepared to share our own experience" of joining both organisations with Baku, said Kwasniewski.

Poland joined the European Union last year and NATO in 1999.

Aliyev painted a glowing picture of his south Caucasian country's oil and gas resources, and stressed Azerbaijan's long-time backing for the oil pipeline from Odessa in Ukraine to Gdansk in northern Poland, which he said would open up new markets for Azeri oil and gas.

"The Caspian basin can provide very substantial amounts of oil in the coming three to four years. Azerbaijan will in the coming three to four years at least triple its oil exports, but in order to do that we need new export facilities," he said.

"Today we have two pipelines which deliver our oil to international markets, to Black Sea ports, and the construction of a third pipeline to the Mediterranean is coming to an end.

"This will create new opportunities to increase production, and the future prospect of using a European infrastructure, including a Polish infrastructure, in the development and transport of our energy sources is being discussed," said Aliyev.

"Azerbaijan has always expressed its political support for the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk pipeline. I am sure this route will be economically viable," he said.

Ukraine and Poland are building an oil pipeline from Odessa on the Black Sea to Gdansk, on Poland's northern Baltic coast, via the border town of Brody.

The pipeline was conceived, with US backing, to export Caspian Sea oil onward from the Black Sea to Poland and possibly Germany, while bypassing Russia.

Washington saw the pipeline's route as a way to reduce the world oil market's dependence on Russian oil and pipelines.

Aliyev began a two-day visit to Poland on Wednesday.

On the first day of his visit, economic, military and tax agreements between Azerbaijan and Poland were signed and future pacts concerning agriculture, labour and small and medium-size businesses were also announced.

Aliyev is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Marek Belka and leaders from both houses of parliament during his visit, and to visit the southern city of Krakow.