BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 16
Trend:
More houses should be built this year for martyr families and those disabled in the Karabakh war, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting on the results of 2019, Trend reports.
“In connection with the self-employment program, the World Bank was invited to join it on our initiative,” the Azerbaijani president noted. “Of course, the main goal here is not in using the funds of the World Bank, although this is also important. The key goal is to use their experience because the World Bank has implemented similar programs in many countries and has extensive experience in this area. Therefore, we attach great importance to the agreement to be signed. I am sure that after the agreement is signed with the World Bank, a new framework for cooperation in this area will be determined.”
The 70-percent increase of targeted social assistance is a very serious growth, and you have already noted that it covers 72,000 families, Ilham Aliyev said.
“The main question here, of course, is justice,” the Azerbaijani president added. “This help should benefit the families that really need it, the families that are in a difficult financial situation. More houses should be built this year for martyr families and those disabled in the Karabakh war. I gave you an instruction on this issue.”
“Whereas 934 apartments were provided last year, I think that 1,500 apartments should be provided this year,” said Ilham Aliyev. “The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy should give relevant instructions on this issue. Thus, if we achieve this, and I am sure we will, only 2,000 families will remain in line. We will provide them with houses in the coming years.”
“I believe that our economic indicators are positive now, especially in the non-oil industry where growth amounted to 14 percent,” the Azerbaijani president noted. “Agriculture grew by almost 7 percent. Let the Minister of Economy report on forecasts of economic development for this year. The investment program was approved last month and should be implemented without delay. Our non-oil exports grew by 14 percent. This is a large growth. However, there are objective reasons that to some extent impede the growth of non-oil exports. The first of these is population growth. In other words, we consume more domestically.”
The second factor is the increase in the number of tourists, Ilham Aliyev said.
“Whereas if less than 2 million people came here five years ago, now there are more than 3 million visitors,” the Azerbaijani president added. “Of course, domestic consumption and domestic demand are growing. Therefore, a long-term strategy for non-oil exports should be developed. Moreover, it should be linked to existing markets and work should be carried out to access promising markets. In general, we now know that the population increases by at least 100,000 people every year.”
“Viewing this as a long-term forecast, we should also determine the volume of domestic demand because if we don’t increase production, non-oil production, then our non-oil exports will not only not increase, but even decrease in the future,” said Ilham Aliyev. “Therefore, issues of stimulating the processing industry are on the agenda here. So the Ministry of Economy should work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture because our main non-oil exports consist of agricultural produce. The state investment program has already been approved, and its main goal is to ensure economic growth. But at the same time, the state currently acts as the main investor. But we want the private sector to be the main investor in the non-oil sector.”
The development of small and medium-sized business is also a priority, the Azerbaijani president noted.
“We are well aware that the bulk of the gross domestic product in developed countries is provided by small and medium-sized enterprises,” Ilham Aliyev said. “In Azerbaijan, we are taking first steps in this direction, and support for small and medium-sized businesses should be at the highest level.”