Baku, Azerbaijan, March 24
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Azerbaijan has reached forefront in the world, and today the country stands out not only for stability, but also for rapid development, member of Russia’s State Duma, head of the Russia-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary friendship group Dmitry Savelyev told Trend.
He said that Azerbaijan is recognized as a reliable partner throughout the world.
"A strong and flexible multi-vector policy allows the country to maintain constructive relations simultaneously with the West and the East, successfully protecting its interests at all international meetings and in high-level negotiations. Election of Azerbaijan as a member of the UN Security Council was the biggest foreign policy achievement of the independent state," Savelyev said.
Head of the Russian-Azerbaijani Friendship Center, political scientist Natalya Krasovskaya, for her part, said that the influential rating agencies and leading experts share the opinion that Azerbaijan is safe from economic shocks thanks to the GDP growth and stabie macroeconomic situation.
"In the shortest time, industrial production in the country increased by 2.7 times, while agricultural production rose by 1.5 times. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan remains one of the few countries that can ensure its own food security. Over the past 15 years, 838,000 new jobs have been created in the country, and poverty level decreased from 49 to 5.4 percent, "she told Trend.
Krasovskaya went on to add that the country showed the world its own model of democracy as a synthesis of global integration and national and cultural identity.
"Focusing on secular values, Azerbaijan has become an example of multiculturalism, allowing all peoples and all religions on its territory to fully develop. Along with this, the country carefully preserves national and cultural wealth and promotes achievements of the Azerbaijani culture and art worldwide," Krasovskaya said.
They also spoke about the relationship between Russia and Azerbaijan.
They noted that Azerbaijan showed its reliability and potential while implementing global economic plans such as the North-South project. They further stressed that the trade turnover between the two countries is growing every year and investment flow from Russia to Azerbaijan is rising.
