Azerbaijan, WB delighted with succesful cooperation
By Rashid Shirinov
The relations between the Azerbaijani government and the World Bank (WB) have entered a new level, and the jointly implemented projects successfully advance.
This was stated by Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Premier and Chairman of the State Committee for Refugees and IDP affairs, at the meeting with the regional Director of the WB for South Caucasus Mercy Tembon and head of the Baku office of the WB Larisa Leshchenko.
Hasanov noted that the government of Azerbaijan has gained a good experience during its cooperation with the World Bank. "Today, Azerbaijan is developing rapidly and has become one of the most authoritative countries in the world,” he said.
Ali Hasanov said that several successful projects with the World Bank have been implemented to improve the welfare of refugees and IDPs and these projects are currently ongoing.
In turn, Mercy Tembon praised the work of Azerbaijan on the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Samir Sharifov, the Finance Minister of Azerbaijan, also spoke about the country’s relations with the WB. The disbursement rate of the World Bank’s funds in Azerbaijan reached 24 percent, he said at a ceremony staged in connection with the expiration of the office term of the WB country manager to Azerbaijan, Larisa Leshchenko.
Samir Sharifov noted that the 2012 disbursement rate in Azerbaijan amounted to 13 percent.
Azerbaijan has been a WB member since 1992. As of February 1, 2016, the Bank issued loans amounting to $3.785 billion to Azerbaijan. The funds were used to finance over 60 projects. By early 2016, Azerbaijan has used $2.764 billion or 73 percent of all loans drawn via WB. Besides the loans, WB delivered 45 grants totaling $41.586 million to Azerbaijan in 1995-2014.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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