Expert: Socio-economic stability in Azerbaijan - result of sustainable dev't

Despite the shocks in the world economy, ensuring socio-economic stability in Azerbaijan is the result of the sustainable development of the national economy, expert economist Amal Hasanli told Report.

According to him, steady energy prices on the world market at a sufficiently high level significantly increase the opportunities for the national economy.

"Long-term maintenance of world oil prices above $100 ensures the stability of the country's export earnings. Despite this, the expansion of non-oil exports also remains a priority. Thus, according to the results of the first quarter of this year, the non-oil economy grew by 10%, the production of the non-oil industry - by more than 18%, and the export of non-oil products - by 45%. During the reporting period, GDP growth amounted to 6.8%. An important role in ensuring a visible economic recovery is played by the liberalization of the national economy, the improvement of the investment climate, the elimination of bureaucratic barriers, and the acceleration of the transparency process as a whole. All this forms a serious basis for sustainable economic development and financial discipline, which significantly increases the country's resilience to external shocks."

The expert notes that against the backdrop of current processes in the world and the region, the food security issue has become more relevant than ever.

"Global self-isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the failure of logistics channels, global supply chains, abnormal climatic conditions have become factors provoking food shortages and, as a result, rising prices. Recently, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, countries that play significant roles in food supplies, has been added to these factors. In particular, the possibilities of grain supplies from these countries to foreign markets are limited. Azerbaijan provides only 40% of its demand for grain through imports, and 25% of its demand for food wheat. Taking this into account, the government has long begun to implement a set of measures to prevent a shortage of wheat in the country and maintain stability in prices for flour and flour products. As a result, in the first two months of this year, compared to the same period last year, wheat supplies from abroad increased by more than nine times and reached 150,600 tons. This has become a stabilizing factor in the prices of flour and flour products, including bread."

Hasanli believes that the potential of the liberated lands can play an important role in accelerating the growth of the non-oil economy, increasing the country's food supply: “Today, large-scale construction work is underway in the liberated territories. Four hydroelectric power plants with a capacity of 20 megawatts, nine electrical substations have already been built, 60 kilometers of the 100-kilometer Horadiz-Agband railway are ready, the Fuzuli Airport and the Victory Road have been put into operation. Along with this, numerous infrastructure projects are being continuously implemented, including the construction of roads, tunnels, four hospitals, and the smart village strategy. The availability of appropriate infrastructure is one of the main factors for the full realization of the economic potential of these territories. The creation of an irrigation system will significantly increase the opportunities for agriculture. This, in turn, will stimulate the development of animal husbandry, poultry farming, fruit and vegetable growing. All this requires large investments. Today, Azerbaijan actually bears this burden alone,” he noted.

“Though a year and a half has passed since the war, international organizations, large foundations, charitable organizations have not provided any assistance to Azerbaijan. Today, the whole world is demonstrating unprecedented support for Ukraine, and a plan has been drawn for restoring the country after the war. It is assumed that Ukraine will have its own 'Marshall Plan.' This is while we observe double standards in relation to Azerbaijan. Although against the backdrop of Russia’s behavior in Ukraine today, diversification of European energy supply channels has become one of the priorities. The role of Azerbaijan as an oil and gas country in ensuring the energy security of Europe in the current situation can reach a qualitatively new level. Given this, our European partners should make certain adjustments to their position on the restoration of lands liberated from occupation,” he added.