Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the economic indicators of the first nine months were very positive.

He made the remarks at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of socio-economic development in nine months of 2014 and future tasks on October 8.

The president said since the beginning of the year and to the present day the Azerbaijani economy has successfully developed.

"I should note that the financial and economic crisis is still ongoing in Europe, while Azerbaijan is registering economic development every year. In the first nine months of this year, the gross domestic product grew by 2.5 percent," he said.

"Most importantly - and we note this with satisfaction every time - our non-oil sector has grown by 6 percent," the president added.

"Inflation is very low - only at 1.5 percent. Population's incomes have increased by 5.4 percent," he said. "Thus, as in previous years, incomes exceed inflation, and this has a direct positive impact on people's living standards. I am sure that inflation will remain low for the rest of the year."

A total of $19 billion has been invested since the beginning of the year. Of this, $11 billion is domestic investment, he added.

President Aliyev also said Azerbaijan possesses sufficient foreign exchange reserves.

"Since the beginning of the year our financial resources have increased by $3.6 billion. In general, our foreign exchange reserves exceed $53 billion, which is also a very high figure on a global scale. In per capita terms, I believe that our foreign exchange reserves are at the highest level on a global scale," he noted.

President Aliyev also said Azerbaijan's main point of support and the source of strength is the economic independence.

"We do not depend on anyone, which allows us the opportunity to pursue an independent policy in the political sphere, including foreign policy," he added.

The head of state went on to say that during the first nine months all infrastructure projects were successfully implemented, and this process is underway.

"The state program on the socioeconomic development of the regions has been successfully implemented. More than 100,000 jobs were created, including 80,000 permanent ones. Since the beginning of the program, from 2004 to the present day, 1.3 million jobs have been created. This has sharply reduced unemployment, which now stands at 5 percent," he noted.

The head of state said important steps were taken to improve living standards of displaced persons.

"We allocated major funds to provide the IDPs with new homes. This process is ongoing and will, of course, be continued next year too," he said.

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, President Aliyev said unfortunately, this year has not seen any progress in the settlement of the conflict.

"The main reason for that is the non-constructive and insincere stance of the Armenian side. Armenia is trying to delay the issue as much as possible and leave the status quo unchanged despite the fact that the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries have repeatedly stated that the status quo is unacceptable and should be changed. Changing the status quo means the liberation of the occupied lands. But unfortunately, these statements are hung in the air and Armenia ignores them, while the sides that have made these statements do not take serious measures and the issue remains unresolved," he said.

President Aliyev expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity.

"Political, diplomatic, economic and military factors play the key role in it. I have repeatedly said this and I want to say again that a significant role is also played by the demographic factor. According to Armenia's official statistics, the country's population has decreased by 80,000 people in the first nine months of this year alone. So 80,000 Armenian citizens have left the country for good. This trend will continue for the rest of the year, so the Armenian population will reduce by more than 100,000 people. The population of Azerbaijan is growing and will continue grow. This, in turn, will play a fundamental role in conflict resolution and regional panorama as a whole," he added.

With regard to the country's energy policy, President Aliyev called the stone foundation of the Southern Gas Corridor as a historic event for Azerbaijan.

"I am confident that in the near future the Southern Gas Corridor will be built, commissioned and ensure steady development of our country in the decades to come. Our political influence will increase and there will be new economic opportunities," he noted.

Later, Azerbaijan's Finance Minister Samir Sharifov, Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Huseyngulu Baghirov, as well as Youth and Sport Minister Azad Rahimov made speeches to highlight what was done in the first nine months of 2014, and outlined further tasks.

Finally, President Ilham Aliyev made a closing speech at the meeting.

The Head of State instructed relative officials to implement all tasks set before them.

He said the state budget has sufficient financial resources and the infrastructure projects should be carried out in time.

The head of state stressed the importance of further strengthening the Azerbaijani army and developing the defense industry in the country.

The Azerbaijani president also said the government should approve the investment program by the year-end to implement investment projects starting next year.

President Aliyev expressed confidence that drop of oil prices on the world markets will not seriously affect the fulfillment of Azerbaijan's state budget.

President Aliyev also stressed the importance of increasing the export capacity of the country. He said Azerbaijan should effectively use new opportunities to increase the export of agricultural products.

President Aliyev stressed the importance of propagating Azerbaijan's tourism capacity abroad, ensuring food security and paying special attention to the environment issues.

At the end the head of state said work on preparation for Baku 2015 European Games is successfully underway. He expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will host the Baku 2015 European Games as successfully as the Summer Olympic Games.

"I am confident that all the tasks will be fulfilled successfully by the end of the year. We will successfully finalize 2014 and successfully start 2015," he concluded.