Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan’s improved position in the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness ranking was possible thanks to thought-out policy, experts say.

Vusal Gasimli, Executive director of the country’s Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication, said that Azerbaijan’s improved position in the WEF competitiveness ranking is a result of the policy of President Ilham Aliyev.

Gasimli reminded that Azerbaijan achieved best progress on “business sophistication” – the country climbed to 40th spot from 60th in the previous ranking.

Azerbaijan improved position on many indicators, which shows that reforms conducted under the leadership of the country’s president give their results. “We think that we can improve our positions in other rankings as well,” he added.

Azerbaijan has moved up two spots to rank 35th in the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018 published by the WEF.

The country improved its position in 9 out of 12 pillars in the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018: Institutions (33rd), Infrastructure (51st), Health and Primary Education (74th), Higher Education and Training (68th), Goods Market Efficiency (31st), Labor Market Efficiency (17th), Financial Market Development (79th), Business Sophistication (40th), and Innovation (33rd). Azerbaijan made the greatest advancement in Business Sophistication pillar – 20 spots.

In Labor Market Efficiency pillar, Azerbaijan is the world`s number 17 in terms of the efficient use of talent, outclassing Israel, Ireland, Belgium, Austria and Estonia. In Goods market efficiency pillar, Azerbaijan ranks 32nd in Competition and 31st in Quality of Demand Conditions categories.

MP Musa Guliyev stressed that improving Azerbaijan's position in the WEF’s competitiveness ranking is the result of the policy of diversifying the national economy, increasing its competitiveness and reducing dependence on imports.

The MP told Day.az that this factor was facilitated by the development of entrepreneurship, aimed at supporting the non-oil sector of the national economy.

The government pays special attention to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Today, the main task is to implement mechanisms to encourage the export of non-oil products. Currently, the Economy Ministry is working hard on promotion of the ‘Made in Azerbaijan’ brand abroad, organizes business forums and trade missions in this regard.

And the system of returning part of the costs for exported products further stimulates domestic producers to produce export-oriented products. The state refunds 3-6 percent of the customs value of goods to non-oil exporters within the framework of mechanisms on promoting exports of non-oil products.

Moreover, the suspension of inspections of entrepreneurial activity for a period of two years reduced the number of contacts with officials, which led to a reduction in the number of possible corruption facts associated with these inspections.

MP Bakhtiyar Sadikhov, in turn, emphasized that the state does everything possible, weighing every step, counting all possible consequences of the taken decisions to improve the well-being of its citizens, and such a balanced policy ultimately gives positive results.

Sadikhov went on to say that the Azerbaijani state remains faithful to its socially oriented policy, adding that all successes of the social and economic direction have been achieved due to the existing political stability in the country.

“Azerbaijan made a significant breakthrough in many areas, including in the economy, trade, energy, in terms of strengthening military capabilities, defense power and so on,” the MP stressed.

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