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President: â€œAzerbaijan doesnâ€™t suffer privations even in 2009, the year of crisisâ€

06 November 2009 08:44 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan is one of the rare countries in the world, which developed its economy even in 2009 and rate of economic development was more than 6 percent in nine months of this yearâ€, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the ceremony dedicated to 60th anniversary of Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks).
The head of state said this development was based on the Azerbaijanâ€™s oil strategy and noted that successful cooperation between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and its foreign partners created todayâ€™s realities. â€œAzerbaijan is proud of its independent policy in the world. It is so indeed. All over the world know it and this is very important issue for every country. What does enable us to pursue this independent policy? First of all, we have independent economy. We donâ€™t depend on anyone. We are living at our own expense, at the expense of material opportunities and values created by the Azerbaijani peopleâ€.

President said economic independence gave to Azerbaijan political independence too. â€œWe are expressing our opinion decisively and are always reacting to the processes in the region. No any initiative can be realized in the region without consideration of interests of Azerbaijan. This is reality and we created this reality. No economic, political or transport projects can be implemented without Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan became very strong country in the region and this condition, particularly the economic opportunities, enable us to pursue independent policy. If there were only economic opportunities and no other factors, it would be difficult for us to pursue independent policy and to fully protect the interests of Azerbaijani people. We have very strong political will alongside with the economic independence. We have principal position. We are defending the interests of Azerbaijani people in all spheres and in any form. The synthesis of these factors creates condition for comprehensive development of Azerbaijan, introduces Azerbaijan as an honorable country in the world and in particular, contributes to the welfare of Azerbaijani peopleâ€.

President noted the recent fall in oil price.
â€œThe oil price has fallen from $140 to $37 in a short period of time. Has anyone felt it in Azerbaijan? Whereas oil price forecast is set at $70 in this yearâ€™s budget. No one felt this. Why? Because first of all Azerbaijani state has strong social policy and the solution of these social problems is a priority. Secondly, Azerbaijanâ€™s economy does not depend on only oil and gas. Agriculture, construction, processing sector are developing rapidly in Azerbaijan due to the effective investment of the oil revenues in the non-oil sector. We have already solved a great part of the food safety. Azerbaijan almost maximally supplies itself with the main food products,â€ he said.
The head of state said 2009 is a testing year for all countries.
â€œBy 2009 the scene had not been so clear. In the hardest testing year, 2009, Azerbaijan showed that it is one of the rare countries of the world. Economy, industrial production, agriculture is growing, national currency is stable, inflation rate is 2 percent. All this is the result of the work,â€ he said.