President Aliyev: Diversification of economy is Azerbaijan’s main objective
President Ilham Aliyev paid a working visit to Switzerland to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting being held over the days of January 23-26 with more than 2,500 participants, brings together 70 heads of state or government to discuss challenges related to the global, regional, and industry agendas.
President Aliyev addressing the forum said that Azerbaijan has achieved good success in diversification of economy.
“Diversification of economy is our main objective and I think that we’ve achieved a good success in that direction,” said the President.
“When we experienced a dramatic drop of oil prices, I said that for Azerbaijan, the post-oil period has already started, and we should forget about oil and gas,” said the president.
Of course we should implement the current projects, but as far as source of major income [is concerned], we should look at technology, innovation, industry, entrepreneurship and agriculture, he said.
“Therefore we introduced very serious reforms, which have already brought good results,” said the president, adding that the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan's economy grew by 3 percent last year.
“So, I should say that the process of diversification is already here, and we have no plans to slow down,” he said. “Now the price of oil is going up, but it will just increase our reserves.”
“We managed to optimize our expenses, and last year, still the [oil] price was low, but we earned $4.5 billion more,” said the President. “That means that even with the low price, we will be on the safe side.”
“Our budget of this year is based on the $45 per barrel. Therefore, whatever is more than that - will go to the sovereign fund. But at the same time, we should understand that oil and gas will continue to be the main part of our economy, though today the non-oil sector is about 70 percent of our GDP,” the president said.
“Our target is to diversify our export, to increase the level of non-oil products in our export portfolio,” Ilham Aliyev said.
As far as energy projects are concerned, once again, they are important for Azerbaijan, and for the region, the head of state said, adding that the projects initiated by Azerbaijan change the energy map of the region.
“The first pipeline we built to Georgia's port of Supsa, connected Caspian and Black seas, then the second pipeline for crude oil from Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan connected Caspian and Mediterranean [seas]. Then on the same route we built the gas pipeline. Therefore we already have diversified export routes for our hydrocarbons, and at the same time providing substantial energy security of our partners, including those in Europe,” he said.
President went on saying that neighborhood of course can be a problem or an advantage, it depends on your policy and on relations with the neighbors.
“I think that for every country, the relations with the neighbors should be a priority, especially in our region,” he said.
“In Azerbaijan we do not have internal risks and threats, therefore we must also guarantee the security on our borders,” said the president.“And the best way is to establish very pragmatic and very sincere relations with the neighbors, based on your national interests, and the national interests of your neighbors.”
“I think that in Azerbaijan we managed to establish such a partnership with all our neighbors, except Armenia, which continues to occupy almost 20 percent of our territory,” he said.
The President went on to say that Azerbaijan has very good relations with its neighbors across the Caspian, with Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, and Russia.
“With every country in our neighborhood we have a very special format of cooperation,” Ilham Aliyev said.
The head of state went on to say that Azerbaijan’s independence is young, only 26 years, but in his opinion, the country managed to establish itself as a truly independent state, which can afford to conduct independent foreign policy, which is based on Azerbaijan’s national interests and is not against the interests of the neighboring countries.
“For a country that is smaller than most of its neighbors, it is important to find proper balance, and get advantage of the neighborhood, because big neighbors means big markets, and for us the best market is the market of our neighbors,” he said.
“Therefore mutual interests, balance of interests, of course, non-interference into the internal affairs of each other, and very pragmatic practical approach on cooperation in the neighborhood, I think is one of the reasons of success of our country, one of the reasons for internal stability and good prospects for the future, “he said.
President Aliyev attended about 30 meetings within the visit to Davos.