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Under Secretary: U.S. can play key role in Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector development

Business Materials 29 March 2012 10:56 (UTC +04:00)
The U.S.-Azerbaijan Economic Partnership Commission is now re-launching, Robert D. Hormats, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment said during testimony Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Europe.
Under Secretary: U.S. can play key role in Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector development

Azerbaijan, Baku, March 29 / Trend, E.Tariverdiyeva /

The U.S.-Azerbaijan Economic Partnership Commission is now re-launching, Robert D. Hormats, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment said during testimony Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Europe.

"I plan to cochair this Commission, a meeting of which will be held soon in Washington," U.S. State Department's website quotes Hormats as saying.

From the Azerbaijani side, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov will cochair the Commission.
Hormats said Washington supports Azerbaijan's efforts to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

He said Azerbaijan is one of the good examples of economy in the post-Soviet space.

"Since 2004, the country's economy has tripled in size. According to the World Bank, the poverty rate has dropped from 49 percent in 2003 to about 9 percent in 2009. Its imports from the United States, at $328 million in 2011, are about 30 percent greater than the 2010 total of $253 million," Hormats said.

He said the Azerbaijani government has identified agriculture, information and communications technology, transportation, and tourism as priority economic sectors for development.

"U.S. firms can play a key role in the development of these sectors," he said.

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