BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 21. The decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan to restrict the movement of goods is adequate, Deputy Director of the Russian School of Economics, Professor of the Azerbaijan State Economic University Elshad Mammadov told Trend.
Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan adopted a resolution "On measures to regulate the export from the country of a number of basic food products included in the minimum consumer basket, and goods used in their production."
"First of all, it is necessary to think about protecting and supporting local markets in the conditions of problems and we see that similar decisions are being made in other countries in order to protect the local market from external influences and uncertainties,” Mammadov noted.
"I think that in order to ensure local food security, peace, stability and sustainability, it is necessary to pursue a policy of effective import substitution. At the same time, this policy should be complemented by appropriate restrictive measures for the export of goods and capital in order to increase investment in local production and ensure the local consumer market precisely through domestic production," he added.
"These solutions should be supplemented with a deepening in the regional economies, so that the countries of our region complement the regional economic security, especially in the area of those problems that are emerging in the world economy and will exacerbate external challenges in terms of economic stability in the region," Mammadov said.
Meanwhile, Doctor of Philosophy in Economics Ilgar Valizade also noted that restrictive measures are introduced not only by Azerbaijan, but also by a number of other countries.
"These actions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan are justified in the context of the crisis in the global economy, caused not only by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Nowadays, there are significant risks in terms of providing various states with food, essentials and basic food nomenclature," he noted.
"Azerbaijan is trying to think first of all about the interests of its population. However, we are witnessing a massive purchase of food products by our state in the markets of various countries. Our country increased the purchase of grain several times in January 2022, therefore, there is no reason for excitement in the local market, as there are no problems on this background with ensuring the food chain and production and such steps have been taken for a long time," Valizade said.
Such actions in Azerbaijan began last year in order to maximize the provision of the local market with food products, the expert added.
"Recently considerable attention has been paid to local production. Effective actions are being taken for this, in particular, in recent months Azerbaijan has purchased enough breeding cattle stock, stocks of food wheat are at a fairly good level and the seed fund is sufficiently provided," Valizade said.
"New agricultural lands are also being put into use, in particular, processes for the construction and modernization of irrigation canals are being actively implemented in the Azerbaijani territories liberated from Armenian occupation. Fresh water reserves in the liberated territories account for 25 percent of the total, and the redirection of these resources to agricultural systems will increase the yield of crops, in particular those grown in the Azerbaijan’s Karabakh economic region," Valizade emphasized.