Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Foreign and local investors enjoy full protection of their rights and interests, as well as equal opportunities in Azerbaijan.

The remarks were made by Azerbaijan's Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev in his recent interview with The Business Year magazine.

"Today, Azerbaijan is recognized as an investor country, having pursued business in a number of European countries, in addition to other neighboring states," Mustafayev noted.

Mustafayev also said as a result of Azerbaijan's dynamic development, international organizations, multinational corporations and investors are showing considerable interest towards the country.

"One of the key factors in assessing the attractiveness of the country, of course, is its favorable business and investment climate," he said. "Record investment ($28 billion) was made in the economy of Azerbaijan last year."

To date, the total inflow of investments amounts to $172 billion, with around half being accounted for by foreign direct investments (FDI).

Mustafayev went on to note that dynamic development continued in all sectors of Azerbaijan's economy and the growth of GDP was mainly due to the non-oil sector, the growth of which reached 5.8 percent in 2013.

"In the last 10 years, Azerbaijan's non-oil sector has increased by 2.6 times, non-oil industry - by 1.9 times, while investments in the non-oil sector - by 15.2 times," Mustafayev stressed. "Over the past decade, GDP has increased by 3.2 times, revenues of the state budget by 16 times, industrial output by 2.7 times, and fixed capital investments by 4.7 times."

Mustafayev also noted the income of the population has increased by 6.5 times over the same period, while the average monthly wage rose 5.5 times. He added over 1.2 million new working places were established, the unemployment rate was reduced to 5 percent, and poverty rate was reduced to 5.3 percent.

"The foreign trade turnover has increased by 6.6 fold," he said, adding that non-oil exports also grew by 4.7 times.

Now, Azerbaijan is conducting trade operations with almost 150 countries, he stressed.