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Forbes publishes article on Azerbaijan

26 November 2012 09:44 (UTC +04:00)

The article says: “An ancient place with a rich culture and clear historical significance as a crossroads for trade and commerce, called “the place of fire” by Zoroastrians for its naturally occurring burning gas fissures, Azerbaijan was born as a nation-state in 1918, incorporated as a Soviet state in 1920, and independent again in 1991. Azerbaijan is a secular country, where modern technologies, cultural and civil institutes developed.

And again painting broadly, with Armenia the struggle is about land and resources and territory. The Nagorno-Karabakh region has been disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia for many years. Open, armed conflict occasionally flares. Innocents suffer. The world watches.

At present, Azerbaijan’s economy is oil-based, and huge revenues derive from state-run oil companies and from long-term agreements with several multi-national pipeline companies transporting oil and gas. Partly as a result of this money-flow, the poverty rate has decreased from 50% down to 7% in the past 10 years. This improvement in the standard of living is impressive by any account. But, as all things are, Azerbaijan’s oil riches are finite. Its oil boom cannot burn forever. As a result, the World Bank has pledged to only fund future projects there that are non-oil-based and that will directly impact the populace in visible, viable, sustainable ways. The World Bank sees a future there in agriculture development and in tourism.

This winter, the Azerbaijani Communications and Technology Ministry plans to launch its own communications satellite.”