Baku, Azerbaijan, July 5
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
At present, about 80 percent of Azerbaijan’s GDP accounts for the private sector, and this is a positive achievement, the country’s Deputy Economy Minister Sahil Babayev said.
He made the remarks July 5 in Baku at the opening ceremony of the “Be Ready for Trade” project.
He said that several years ago Azerbaijan’s economy was formed mainly at the expense of the public sector, but the reforms carried out in the country and the attention given to the private sector made it possible to achieve such results.
“Over the past several years, Azerbaijan has done a great job for the development of the non-oil sector,” said the deputy economy minister. “Big reforms were carried out to develop entrepreneurship and improve the business environment in Azerbaijan. Along with this, mechanisms to support competitive production were created.”
“The issuance of documents for investments’ promotion, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, creation of special economic zones, industrial and agricultural parks, as well as the issuance of preferential loans through the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support (NFES) of Azerbaijan can be mentioned among such mechanisms,” he noted.
Babayev added that these measures contributed to the fact that at present, the major part of Azerbaijan’s GDP is formed at the expense of the non-oil sector.
“Back in 2006-2008, the share of the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan’s GDP was only 40 percent, however the reforms led to the fact that currently, the share of the non-oil sector in the country's economy is about 70 percent,” Babayev said.