President: Azerbaijani economy is sustainable now
The third state program on the socio-economic development of the regions in 2014-2018 has been implemented, said President Ilham Aliyev said speaking at a conference dedicated to the results of the state program.
"The program adopted five years ago has been over-fulfilled," he said, noting that the adoption of programs on the socioeconomic development of the regions of Azerbaijan was one of the commitments he made on the eve of the 2003 presidential election. The President noted that one should examine the work done in the past 15 years.
15-year achievements at a glance
“Over the past 15 years, the Azerbaijani economy has developed at a record pace on a global scale. Our gross domestic product increased 3.3 times. I want to say again that this is a record figure on a global scale. Industrial production has increased 2.6 times. Our exports have increased 4.7 times, foreign exchange reserves 24 times and now amount to $45 billion. This shows that despite major investments in the regions of Azerbaijan, in the oil and gas sector and in the development of Baku, we have managed to increase our foreign exchange reserves 24 times. This enables us to be very optimistic about the future. The Azerbaijani economy is sustainable now,” he said.
The head of state underlined that this successful policy has led to major investments in our country.
“Over 15 years, about $250 billion have been invested in Azerbaijan, and half of that is foreign investments. So, Azerbaijan is a very attractive country for foreign investors. The investment climate in Azerbaijan stimulates foreign investors,” he said.
The President also recalled that Azerbaijan was mentioned in the World Bank's Doing Business report for the first time in 2006, when it was in 98th place.
“As a result of fundamental reforms carried out and the improved investment climate, Azerbaijan ranks 25th in the world according to the latest report. In other words, this gives us grounds to say that both local and foreign investors will continue to invest heavily in Azerbaijan. This investment will continue to create jobs and new enterprises and confidently develop our country,” he said.
Social policy flourishing
The head of state also noted that over the past 15 years, 2 million new jobs have been created.
“The population has increased by 1.6 million people. This is also an excellent indicator. The bigger the population, the more rapidly our country will develop. But, of course, we must continue to organize our work in such a way that economic development and creation of jobs outpace population growth, so that the growing population is provided with work. Job creation was an integral part of the programs on socio-economic development of the regions and, as I have already noted, 2 million jobs have been created. A significant part of them falls on the regions. Agriculture has increased 1.7 times,” he said.
Touching upon the social issues, the President voiced a few numbers.
“Over the past 15 years, wages have been increased seven times and pensions nine times. Over the past 15 years, more than 3,200 schools have been overhauled or rebuilt, 640 medical institutions have been built and reconstructed, and 44 Olympic centers have been established in the regions. This shows again that our policy is socially oriented and we primarily channel our revenues into the social sphere,” he said.
“In recent years, more than 100 settlements have been built and provided to the IDPs. Martyr families, war veterans and those disabled in the war have been provided with 6,650 apartments, and this process continues. People of this category will be provided with houses. In other words, Azerbaijan is a country paying a lot of attention to the social sphere.We have managed to combine the principles of a market economy with those of social justice in our country, and I believe that the successful development of Azerbaijan is underpinned by that,” President Aliyev said.
He also claimed that the main factor of the successful development model of Azerbaijan is that our policy enjoys popular support.
“After all, this policy is designed to improve the well-being of our people. This policy is designed to turn our country into a strong state. As a result of this policy, Azerbaijan can openly speak from various platforms around the world, conduct an independent policy and fully protect its interests,” he said.
President Aliyev said that the main goal of our foreign policy is to allow us an opportunity to manage possible risks from the outside, mitigate and eliminate them.
“We are achieving this. For the past 15 years, the people of Azerbaijan have lived in peace and tranquility. The people of Azerbaijan live and create in the conditions of peace. I believe that every patriot can be rightfully proud of his country and the present-day Azerbaijan,” he said.
Support for business
The President went on to say about important steps taken to improve the business environment and provide tremendous support for the development of entrepreneurship.
“The size of the loans provided to entrepreneurs on favorable terms alone exceed 2 billion manats. It is gratifying that only one billion of this amount was allocated from the state budget. The rest, exceeding one billion manats, was provided from the already repaid earlier loans. We have thus created fairly large financial resources. This enables us to alleviate the burden from the state budget and provide further financial support to entrepreneurs on favorable terms,” he said.
The head of state noted that the process of industrialization is successfully powering ahead.
“The launch of industrial estates has gained momentum lately. This process is currently ongoing in several cities and we have 67 residents in industrial parks. Forty of these are already functioning. The establishment of agricultural estates can also be regarded as a very positive development. The program provides for the creation of 51 agricultural estates. Of these, 17 are already functioning. As a result of the launch of the remaining agricultural estates, jobs will be created in the regions and the production and exports of our agricultural products will further increase,” he said.
The head of state further spoke of the country’s achievements in space, innovations and business.
“As for innovation, there is a brand called "ASAN xidmәt", which is known in the world as a product of Azerbaijan. It was created by us. It is our intellectual product and an expression of our will. Today, "ASAN xidmәt" operates in several countries and the number of countries using this system is growing. Fifteen "ASAN xidmәt" centers have been established in our country. By the end of this year, their number will reach 20. These centers have processed over 26 million applications. The approval ratings are close to 100 percent. "ASAN xidmәt" provides more than 200 services in a completely transparent manner and without any violations. This area, as you know, has always been of great concern. Our people had legitimate complaints. There are no complaints now and the successful operation of "ASAN xidmәt" is a reflection of our policy. Everything in Azerbaijan should be transparent, everything should be within the frames of law. This shows again that serving the people is one of the main tasks of our policy,” he said.
Oil and gas revenues
Speaking of the oil and gas sector, the President noted that this is the main branch of our economy.
“It is the case today, it was the case before and it will be the case in the future. We are simply trying to rapidly develop the non-oil sector and are achieving that. But regardless of the public and political formation, this has been the key economic driver ever since first oil was discovered in Azerbaijan. We are using these natural resources very rationally,” he said.
“The construction of the Southern Gas Corridor, one of Europe's largest infrastructure projects, is currently underway. This megaproject consisting of four projects is already in its final stages. Three of the four components have already been commissioned. The TANAP and the Southern Gas Corridor were inaugurated last year, and this is a historic event,” the President added.
We have channeled our oil and gas revenues into the transport sector in order to turn Azerbaijan into a transport hub not only in this region but also of Eurasia, the head of state noted.
“The commissioning of the BakuTbilisi-Kars railway is a historic event. It is an extremely important project, as it enables us to transport large volumes of cargo from East to West and from West to East through the territory of Azerbaijan. This enhances our geopolitical significance. At the same time, we will always earn currency thanks to this. The creation of the North-South corridor is also of great importance. A lot is being done in this direction. Of course, this work requires large-scale international cooperation. Azerbaijan has played a positive role in this area as an initiator. Today, the number of countries connected via the East-West and North-South transport corridors exceeds 10, and their number will grow. But only Azerbaijan participates in both projects. Therefore, we are turning into a strategic transport center of Eurasia. The BakuTbilisi-Kars railway, the Alat international trade seaport, our road infrastructure, modern and modernizing infrastructure have all been created in recent years,” he said.
Speaking of Azerbaijan’s achievements, the head of state also noted the country’s power capacities.
“Fifteen years ago, we could not provide ourselves with electricity. We either imported it from abroad or some regions of our country were left without light. Over the past 15 years, 31 new stations have been built and a new capacity of 2,500 megawatts have been created. Today we don't simply provide ourselves, we also export electricity. Fifteen years ago, the supply of natural gas was at about 50 percent; today, this figure is at 95 percent. The provision of drinking water was at 26 percent, but today it is at 70 percent. In 15 years, 15,000 kilometers of roads have been built,” he concluded.