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Azerbaijani President chairs Cabinet of Ministers meeting on outcomes of nine months of 2013

07 October 2013 12:26 (UTC +04:00)

Noting that nine months of 2013 has been successful for Azerbaijan and all tasks lying ahead have been fulfilled, the President said all macroeconomic indicators have been at a high-level, economy has increased by 5.4%, non-oil sector by 10.4% and it is the highest indicator in the world. Moreover, agriculture has grown by 5%, household incomes by 7.6% and inflation has been 2.3%.

According to the World Economic Forum, Azerbaijan’s economy ranks 39th for its competitiveness. As of nine months of 2013, $17.7 billion ($10.5 billion - domestic investment, $7.2 – foreign investment) have been invested in Azerbaijan’s economy. During this period exchange reserves have increased and reached $49.4 billion. Azerbaijan takes leading position in the world in terms of exchange reserves per capita.

The President noted that during the nine months, significant steps have been taken to solve social problems and a number of programs have been implemented in this sphere. All goals regarding the development of regions have been achieved and about 90,000 jobs created. Up to now, more than 1,200,000 jobs have been created in the country.

Speaking about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev stated that no serious progress has yet been achieved in the resolution of the conflict. However, Azerbaijan is developing successfully, socio-economic and political crisis in Armenia, the invader, is deepening more and more.

Speaking about successes achieved in the field of foreign policy in the past, President Ilham Aliyev said that mutual visits play an important role in the development of bilateral relations. He said that Azerbaijan is establishing relations with all partners on the basis of mutual respect and confidence: “We are defending our national interests. Azerbaijan is open to cooperation with all countries.”

Underlining important achievements in the field of energy and launch of Trans Adriatic Pipeline project in the last 9 months, the Head of State noted that Azerbaijan’s energy policy is very important for the world.

The President said that important steps have been taken in industrialization, many projects have entered the stage of implementation and expressed confidence that these positive tendencies will continue till the end of the year.

Following this, the Minister of Economic Development Shahin Mustafayev, Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank Elman Rustamov and Chairman of the State Social Protection Fund Salim Muslumov talked about the measures taken during the 9 months of this year.

Delivering a closing speech, President Ilham Aliyev stressed the importance of continuing measures for further maintenance of these positive dynamics. Public investment program should be executed, macroeconomic stability should be protected and artificial price increase should be avoided by the end of the year. The President said that the third state program on the development of the regions that will cover issues on all social and economic problems would be adopted next year.

The head of state gave instructions on further strengthening the fight against corruption and bribery, development of e-services, expansion of ASAN service network that was appealed by more than 500,000 people in the last 9 months across the country and touched on the importance of continuing measures on further improvement of energy, gas and water supply of the population.

“Azerbaijan is already a transportation and logistical center of the region,” said the Head of State and added that the construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is about to end. He underlined that activities towards the development of agriculture will be continued, Takhtakorpu water reservoir plays an important role in this field.

Characterizing good demographic situation as one of the greatest advantages of the country, President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s economy has grown by 3.4 times in the past 10 years. $150 billion has been invested in the country, budget expenses have increased by 20 times. In the past years poverty has declined by 10 times, external debt has been 7-8%, pensions have been raised by 10 times, salaries by 6 times, military expenses by more than 20 times, Azerbaijan’s defense industry is releasing 750 kinds of products. 2708 schools, 500 medical institutions have been constructed or repaired, 35 Olympic sports complexes constructed in Azerbaijan in the past 10 years. Azerbaijan has achieved much in the field of oil and gas, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline have been put into operation. Due to these historical projects Azerbaijan has established an important energy corridor. Azerbaijan has become a cosmic country and a member of the UN Security Council. Baku has become one of the most beautiful cities of the world.