Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27
Trend:
Azerbaijan has established itself as a reliable supplier of energy in the global market, minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov said in his adress at the General Debate of the Sixty-Ninth Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Azerbaijan reaffirms its commitment to the implementation of the global sustainable development agenda and reaching an agreement on the post-2015 Development Agenda.
"My country's record in attaining the Millennium Development Goals is truly unique. Over the past ten years, the Gross Domestic Product of Azerbaijan has increased by 3.4 times. Now, the economy of Azerbaijan accounts for more than 80% of that of the South Caucasus. The poverty rate was reduced from 49% in 2004 to 5.3% in 2014. Over the same period, the unemployment rate has been decreasing from 10.6% to 5%", he said.
According to him, the government has been implementing large-scale programs on improving good governance, strengthening rule of law, ensuring respect for human rights, providing facilitated access to public services, inclusive and equitable education, gender equality and empowering women, enabling access to affordable energy and protection of environment.
The rapid development at national level enabled Azerbaijan to embark on a new road of official development assistance in the status of an emerging donor. Over the past years, Azerbaijan has continued responding to humanitarian and socio-economic challenges faced by the developing countries through the Azerbaijan International Development Agency-AIDA and other channels, Mammadyarov added.
"The commitment to contribute to international development is widely shared across our public. The leading non-governmental organization in Azerbaijan, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, has implemented numerous social, humanitarian and development projects in a number of countries", - he said.
Accoridng to him, Azerbaijan has established itself as a reliable supplier of energy in the global market. Just recently, the groundbreaking ceremony was held in Azerbaijan launching the Southern Gas Corridor. This $50 billion-project, which envisages construction of pipeline systems such as TANAP and TAP, will enable Europe to get gas supplies from a completely new resource base in Azerbaijan.
The project on the Trans-Eurasian information super highway (TASIM), which was initiated by Azerbaijan, will provide the countries of the region with ICT services, facilitating access to the Internet, telecommunication systems and e-info resources for 20 countries throughout the region, he added.
"Acknowledging the value of transport as an important mechanism for sustainable development, Azerbaijan has successfully launched several regional infrastructure projects. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is an important link connecting Europe and Asia", Azerbaijani FM added.