President Aliyev: Azerbaijan to further pursue independent policy
Azerbaijan will further continue to move on its current path, pursue independent policy and move forward based on the people’s will.
President Ilham Aliyev made the remark while addressing an official reception dedicated to the 25th anniversary of restoration of Azerbaijan’s independence on October 17.
Since 2003 until today, Azerbaijan has had a period of unprecedented economic development. Noting that Azerbaijan’s economy has tripled, the president said that no other economy has tripled in such a short time.
“Industrial development has also tripled. We have put an end to poverty. The poverty level, which was standing at approximately 50 percent, has dropped to 5 percent. A very serious fight is underway against unemployment. The unemployment is at a very low level,” said the head of state.
President Aliyev said Azerbaijan also started the development of its regions and more than 1.3 million new jobs have been created as a result of implementation of state programs. The regions have revived, the cities have improved and modern infrastructure projects have been implemented.
"We turned from a country importing electricity and gas into their exporter," said the president.
He emphasized that Azerbaijan has paid and is paying great attention to settlement of social issues. Salaries and pensions have been increased by several times over the last 13 years.
"We are moving towards technological development," said the president. “Today, Azerbaijan is one of the few members of the space club. We have two satellites and the third satellite will be put into operation in the near future.”
Th head of state noted that Azerbaijan has turned into a very important country in resolving the regional cooperation issues. The major energy projects implemented at our initiative, have gained a larger scope in recent years and these are already intercontinental energy projects, he added.
“I would like to especially mention the Southern Gas Corridor. I should note that this corridor is being created on the basis of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, which were commissioned in 2006 and 2007,” said the president, adding that the Southern Gas Corridor wouldn’t have been created without those pipelines.
The president further went on speaking of giant energy projects such as the Shah Deniz 2 implemented by 83 percent and TANAP implemented by around 40 percent, which according to him will bring additional great economic dividends in the future.
“By using reliable routes, we deliver our rich gas reserves to the world’s largest market – Europe – which is one of the closest markets for us. Our energy policy is highly appreciated by the world. We have created an international cooperation format and are expanding it,” President Aliyev added.
Ilham Aliyev further said Azerbaijan is taking very serious steps with regard to the development of other sectors of its economy, adding that recently the development of industry and agriculture has been on the rise in the country.
”Despite the continuing economic crisis in the world, we have taken very serious steps in this direction. I am sure that in the coming years the development of the nonoil sector will proceed at a higher pace,” he said, stressing that about 70 percent of Azerbaijan’s economy is formed in the non-oil sector.
He added that Azerbaijan is taking serious measures for the governance reforms and fighting the unpleasant cases.
President Aliyev added that Azerbaijan is today known all over the world as a very reliable partner and all the projects we participate in are intended for cooperation.
He reminded that Azerbaijan is today playing an active role in creating the East-West corridor, noting about the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to be commissioned in the months to come.
“This corridor will give us great economic profits. The volume of the cargos to go through this corridor will reach tens of millions of tons.”
Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan is also creating the North-South corridor.
“We again made an initiative, we again presented a format of regional cooperation, and it has already been created. It will allow us transport additionally tens of millions of tons of cargos,” he said. “This exactly is the reduction of dependence on the oil and development of the non-oil sector.”
President Aliyev further noted that the country’s relations with its neighbors stand at the highest level.
“If every country had built relations with its neighbors like we do, there wouldn’t have been wars in the world,” he said, emphasizing that the main reason of wars is that neighboring countries do not get along with each other.