Azerbaijan, Baku, April 6 / Trend S. Ahmedova /
Azerbaijan has seen significant growth in the country's non-oil sector, the New Europe magazine quotes the country's Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev as saying.
Mustafayev made this statement, following an event by the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and The Business Year magazine, which highlighted Azerbaijan's economic development.
The Business Year magazine gave Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev a "Man of the Year" award based on an opinion poll conducted among partners and readers of the magazine that includes international government officials and business executives.
Mustafayev said that Azerbaijan's economy makes up 75% of South Caucasus.
"Driving in the outskirts of Baku in the direction of the Sangachal Terminal slum houses adorn the hills in contrast to the growing modern metropolis that spreads along the coast ahead," Mustafayev said.
According to the article, Mustafayev noted in his speech that poverty was reduced to 6% and further steps will be taken it to eliminate it altogether.
President Aliyev's priority is the development of non-oil sectors of the economy, he said. The last three years the economy grew 2.5 times. In 2012, the growth of the economy was due to the non-oil sector, he said in his speech.
"We hope that by 2020, the Azerbaijani economy's non-oil sector will be 80%," Mustafayev said, adding that the target is to promote investment in the non-oil sector and for that reason Baku has partnered with international institutions, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC)," the magazine quotes Mustafayev as saying.
Mustafayev also said that Azerbaijan has increased the amounts of special-privilege loans for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and lessened bureaucracy hurdles for these enterprises. He noted that there are more than 80,000 entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan. Recently, a new law was submitted to the Azeri parliament on entrepreneurs and "we hope it will be adopted soon".
According to the article, Mustafayev said that the share of private sectors' contribution to the economy is 70%. "After 2008, the share of local investment surpassed foreign investment," he said. More than 50% is directed to the non-oil sector.
The article says that, meanwhile, Azerbaijan's Minister of Industry and Energy Natiq Aliyev in his speech recalled how difficult it was to convince foreign companies to invest in Azerbaijan in the mid-90s to early 2000s. Now Azerbaijan is becoming and an important investor not only locally but also abroad, he said in his speech. As an example, he noted that the key shareholder of the TANAP or Trans Anatolian Pipeline is the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), which owns 80% of the project.
There is plenty of oil and gas in Azerbaijan. This is clear from the moment the plane makes its final approach to Baku and one can see the oil rigs spread along the Caspian.
According to the article, in keeping up with the times, Azerbaijan is exploring issues of energy efficiency and plans to increase the use of sustainable energy. Azerbaijan never depended on renewables before. Only 14% was produced by hydro-electric stations and 1% was renewables. That is why it never used wind or solar energy. Azerbaijan wants to increase its share of renewable energy, including geothermal in the north, which Aliyev called a first step, "but a very important one".