Azerbaijani president attends ADB Board of Governors meeting in Baku (UPDATE)
By Gulgiz Dadashova, Sara Rajabova
The transformation of "black gold" into human capital is important for Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev said in his opening address to the 48th Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors in Baku on May 4.
Global development leaders gathered in the capital of energy-rich Azerbaijan this week for the ADB meeting, to discuss the emerging Sustainable Development Goals for 2016–2030.
“Azerbaijan, which has traveled a long way over the past 10 years, increased its gross domestic product, created more than 1 million new jobs, thus reducing poverty and implementing major social projects,” the president said referring to the economic achievements of the country, Trend reports.
Noting that Baku, for the first time in the South Caucasus, hosts the ADB Board of Governors’ meeting, President Aliyev said Azerbaijan and the Bank established a fruitful cooperation since 1999, adding that this event “is an opportunity for close acquaintance with our country”.
Stressing that Azerbaijan favors the development of modern tendencies in the world, President Aliyev said: “Azerbaijan, for centuries, had a multicultural society and is proud of its multicultural history. We are strongly committed to the development of Azerbaijan as a modern, tolerant country, where representatives of all nationalities and religions live in peace and dignity.”
President Aliyev emphasized that the recently created international center of multiculturalism is Azerbaijan's contribution to the development of positive tendencies in the world, adding that the cultural diversity of Azerbaijani nation is one of its biggest assets.
Speaking about the historical periods the country went through, the problems that the country faced in the early years of its independence, the president noted that at present Azerbaijan is developing rapidly and that political and economic reforms are successfully being carried out.
"I think that in less than 20 years, we have made substantial progress. Azerbaijan is strongly committed to its democratic development.
"We realize that without political transformation, without modern system of governance, we will not be able to achieve success. So, political and economic reforms were implemented in parallel,” he said.
Noting that today Azerbaijan, as in the beginning of the last century, is once again known in the world as an oil country, President Aliyev stressed that “our natural resources serve for the further development of Azerbaijan”.
The president noted that attracting investments of major international energy companies to Azerbaijan was the country's way to develop.
"Our target was to create a self-sufficient economy, and for that the energy factor was the most obvious one. It attracted the attention of our investors.
"We had huge gas reserves but we needed investments and needed to transport these reserves to the world market. We are landlocked, so we had to build pipelines,” he said.
The president went on to say that due to Azerbaijan's energy strategy and commitment, for the first time the Caspian Sea is connected to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea through crude oil pipelines.
"That was the first step of changing the energy map of this region," President Aliyev said, noting that attracting investments in oil and gas allowed local Azerbaijani companies to get contracts and experience.
"Today, we know that energy security is primarily based on natural gas reserves. From this point of view, Azerbaijan's role in the region is very important. We initiated the construction of the Southern Gas Corridor, which now connects almost 10 countries in the region and in Europe, and its construction has already started."
Today, Azerbaijani gas is needed by consumers in different parts of the world, said the president, emphasizing that energy policy increases the geopolitical importance of Azerbaijan and increases its opportunities.
The Southern Gas Corridor will allow Europe to diversify its hydrocarbon supply sources and strengthen energy security while allowing Azerbaijan to obtain a new market in Europe.
"When we complete the project of the Southern Gas Corridor in 3-4 years, Azerbaijan for many decades ahead, maybe even for over 100 years, will be one of the most important suppliers of gas to consumers in the region and in Europe,” Aliyev said.
President Aliyev further noted that Azerbaijan will continue to stimulate the country's private sector and attract new investments.
He said the diversification of the country's economy will be the center of attention, adding that the government will also try to keep Azerbaijan's foreign debt as low as possible.
President Aliyev said the macro-economic situation in the country will also be closely watched, noting that Azerbaijan will try to accumulate financial resources.
He noted that energy security, economic independence and relying on one's own sources - is the driving force of Azerbaijan's development.
"Had Azerbaijan gained its independence not in 1991, but, say, in 1971, today we probably would've been one of the richest countries in the world. This is the reality, but we're trying to catch up. We're trying to compensate for what we've lost when we were not free and independent," he said.
President Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan is trying to take advantage of other tools within its grasp, such as the country's location.
"Today Azerbaijan is becoming a transportation hub. We've invested largely in transportation infrastructures, and now we're building the biggest sea port in the Caspian region - 25 million tons capacity," he said.
President Aliyev also touched upon the rail road that would connect Europe and Asia.
"The construction of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey rail road is soon to be completed. This road will cross Azerbaijan and will be the most convenient road for transportation," he said, adding that it will increase the country’s geopolitical importance and investments.
The head of state said that measures are being taken for the development of the space industry, tourism sector and other spheres, voicing confidence that the cooperation with the Asian Development Bank will be successful in the future.
“The money allocated from the ADB to Azerbaijan will serve the benefits of our people, as well as the economic and sustainable development of Azerbaijan,” he said.
President Aliyev also spoke about the Armenian aggression against the country and its results, as well as the ongoing peace talks to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
He said that Azerbaijan had to implement reforms when it got attacked by neighboring Armenia. The president reminded his audience that as a result of Armenia's aggression, almost 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory remains under occupation and one million Azerbaijanis have become refugees in their own land.
Despite ongoing negotiations, President Aliyev noted that no results have been achieved yet. "It is unacceptable in the 21 century that one country occupies another country's legal territory," he said.
He went on to remind that all of the four UN Security Council resolutions, which require the unconditional and immediate withdrawal of the Armenian forces from Azerbaijan's territory, still not implemented. “This shows that the international law sometimes works selectively, due to political preferences and countries' influence on world affairs.”
President Aliyev further noted that Azerbaijan is pursuing a dynamic foreign policy that actively cooperates with international organizations in Europe and Asia.
ADB President Takehiko Nakao, in turn, expressed appreciation to the Azerbaijani government and President Aliyev for the high level organization of the event.
Speaking about the main activities of the Bank, Nakao said the Asian Development Bank will become stronger, better and faster as it scales up its operations to eliminate poverty and promote sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.
Nakao said that ADB must be better. “We should provide better knowledge services and innovative solutions to our client countries,” he said. To achieve this goal, ADB is strengthening its sector and thematic expertise and adopting a ‘One ADB’ approach to share knowledge and expertise across the bank.
Speaking more broadly on the region’s development challenges, Nakao said that 544 million Asian people live on less than $1.25 a day. However, according to a new measure developed by ADB last year, about 1.4 billion Asian people are still poor—about 40% of the region’s total population.
“Such high poverty is unacceptable,” he said. “Poverty must be defeated decisively, and soon.”
Nakao committed ADB to consulting closely with shareholders and stakeholders on its ongoing transformation, its plan to scale-up operations, and development of a new strategy beyond 2020, the Bank reported.
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