Azerbaijan, Baku, July 15 / Trend E. Aliyev, A. Akhundov /
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) stressed the high rates of poverty reduction in Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijan's economy suffered a hard transition process, which resulted in the significant reduction in the poverty level in the country from 50 percent in 2001 to 6 percent now," EBRD president Suma Chakrabarti said at a press conference in Baku on Monday.
"Such a significant rate of poverty reduction is one of the rare examples in the history of mankind," he added. "I congratulate Azerbaijani people and government on this success."
He highlighted Azerbaijan's economic achievements for the last 10 years.
"As one of the largest investors in the non-oil sector of the Azerbaijani economy, EBRD is proud of its certain role in the poverty reduction in the country," Chakrabarti added.
According to him, around 6.7 billion euros were invested in the projects with EBRD participation in Azerbaijan for the past 20 years, while around 1.6 billion of this amount fall to the bank's funds.
"Last year was very successful for us," he added. "Around 16 projects for a total amount of 90 million euros were financed. All these projects are related to the private sector. We aim to provide Azerbaijan with comprehensive support, including in the area of economic diversification. And this is yielding results. The non-oil sector growth rate hit 10 percent in 2012."