ABD may assist Azerbaijan with strategic road maps
By Aygul Salmanova
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will study the possibility of rendering technical assistance to Azerbaijan within implementation of strategic road maps, the Ministry of Economy said on January 15.
This issue was discussed at a meeting of representatives of the ministry with the leadership of the bank’s Baku office.
Representatives of ADB were given information on the events envisaged in the road maps. At the meeting, it was decided that the bank will conduct repeated studies on selected areas for rendering technical assistance, and then will inform the Ministry of Economy.
President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree in late 2016 endorsing “Strategic Road Maps for the National Economy and Main Economic Sectors”, which outlined the short-, medium- and long-term goals for the development of the economy and eleven key sectors.
The document comprises consolidated measures aimed at minimization of negative impacts of the global economic slowdown. It will allow to create a new development model basing on short-term (until 2020), medium-term (until 2025) and long-term measures (post 2025) to be implemented in different spheres of economy.
The short-term (2016-2020) objectives of the road map for heavy industry include creation of a competitive sector, provision of financial resources for its development. The implementation of these measures will allow to increase GDP by almost 560 million manats ($306.8 million).
The strategic road maps up to 2025 and beyond cover almost all sectors of the economy, including, development of the oil and gas industry, the manufacture and processing of agricultural products, the manufacture of small and medium entrepreneurship-level consumer goods, development of heavy industry and machinery, tourism, logistics and trade, vocational education and training, financial services, communication and information technologies and utilities.
The Strategic Road Maps require some 27 billion manats ($15.8 billion) to be implemented, while the sum will be provided through the state and private sources.
ADB was founded in 1966 and 67 states are its members. The bank’s headquarters is located in Manila, Philippines. Azerbaijan became an ADB member in 1999.
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