Baku-APA. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has chaired a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on results of socio-economic development of the country in nine months of 2013 and outstanding tasks.
The Head of State made opening speech at the meeting.
The President said nine months of the year were a success, adding “all tasks we set ourselves have been implemented”.
“Azerbaijan`s economy has been successfully developing this year too, and, I believe, this rapid development will continue in the years to come because the reforms that we have carried out so far and results that we have achieved let us say that Azerbaijan’s successful development will further be ensured.”
President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan`s economy grew 5.5% in nine months of the year. “I think that taking into account the continuing crisis in the world, it is quite a high achievement, and it lets us successfully implement our investment programs.”
“Our non-oil sector is growing at a rapid pace, which has been preserved since the beginning of the year. Our non-oil sector grew 10.4% in nine months, and, I believe, it is the best indicator on a global scale. The President said “this is the results of the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan”. “We are reducing dependence of our economy on oil and gas, which contributes to solving the issue of economic diversification.”
“We will completely remove dependence of the national economy on the oil and gas factor. Development of the non-oil sector is the result of the state policy.”
The Head of State said the country’s industrial output grew as well. “Our agricultural production saw a 5% growth, and there is a good potential for further development in the future. Inflation was just 2.3%, and it is an excellent figure. The population’s incomes grew 7.6%.”
The President said macro-economic situation was stable in Azerbaijan, adding the country was among the top ten countries on a global scale in terms of this parameter. “The Global Competitiveness Report of the Davos World Economic Forum has recently placed Azerbaijan`s economy 39th on a global scale. This is a historic figure.”
President Ilham Aliyev praised the country`s investment climate. “Azerbaijan is a very attractive country in terms of investment both among former Soviet republics and in the region.” “A total of 17.7 billion dollars were invested in Azerbaijan`s economy in nine months, with $10.5 billion coming from domestic and 7.2 billion from foreign sources.”
The President said the country`s currency reserves increased this year to make 49.4 billion US dollars. “It`s a very big figure for a country with the population of 9.4 million people.” “Azerbaijan is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of per capita currency reserves.” “The growing volume of currency reserves both ensures Azerbaijan`s sustainable development and, at the same time, helps us elevate relations with our foreign partners to a higher level.”
The Head of State touched upon the country`s state debt, saying it makes only 7% or 8% of the Gross Domestic Product. “In some developed countries state debt makes more than 100% or nearly 100%.” “In Azerbaijan, we have just 7% or 8%, which means that we have built strong foundations so that Azerbaijan faces no problems in terms of state debt neither today, nor in 10, nor in 20 years.”
The President highlighted the country`s social policy, saying it is based on “powerful economic foundations”. “Wages and pensions have increased this year. Wages and pensions have grown several times in the last 10 years.” “We remodeled and reconstructed nearly 200 schools this year. All other social facilities are being renewed and modernized.”
The President said: “We have achieved all goals with respect to development of our regions. We are completing the second regional development program this year. Nine months of this year alone saw the creation of nearly 90,000 new jobs. In general, more than 1.2 million jobs have been created in the country in the past 10 years, which helped us to have considerably reduced unemployment. “According to latest figures, the level of unemployment in Azerbaijan is below 5%. This also contributes to reducing poverty. We have two months left to the end of the year, but we can already say with confidence that poverty will be under 6% this year.”
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