CABINET OF MINISTERS MEETING PRESIDED BY THE PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN DEVOTED TO THE RESULTS OF FIRST HALF OF 2009
APA
July 22 2009
Azerbaijan
Baku – APA. On July 22, the Cabinet of Ministers held a large meeting
on the socio-economic results of the first half of 2009.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev presided over the
meeting. According to APA, in his opening speech, President Aliyev
reminded about the serious economic problems in the most countries
caused by the global financial crisis and said the crisis’ impact
on Azerbaijan was minimized as a result of measures, including the
reforms carried out in the country in recent years.
GDP rose 3.6% in the first half of the year and non-oil sector growth
was 4.1%. "It shows that the future of the country less depends on
the oil factor. The solution of the social issues was successfully
developed in the first half of the year and existent program were
carried out in this field. The inflation was reduced to 3.7% in
the past six months. Cash profit of the population was raised 19%
and average monthly salary – 15% in this period".
The head of state said 35 000 new job places, including 25 000
permanent jobs, were created in Azerbaijan in the first half of
the year. The second phase of the State Program for Socio-Economic
Development of the Regions started to be carried out in this
period. The government increased resources allocated for the
development of the ownership. Azerbaijan fulfilled energy security
duties and increased oil-gas production. "Azerbaijan is exporting
the natural gas to the neighbor countries. The power stations in
Sumgayit and Guba to be put on operation this year will strengthen
Azerbaijan’s capacity for the export of electricity".
The President said the programs were carried out in the transport
sector in the past six months as well, which contributed to the
renovation of the transport infrastructure in Azerbaijan. The head of
state said the army-building was also in the focus of attention. "The
large-scale military exercises are signs of that".
The President said the negotiations over the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno
Karabakh conflict were developed and Azerbaijan took univocal position
on this issue, which based on the international law.
The head of state said Azerbaijan had high development prospects. "We
are doing our work according to the plans and any issue could be
solved in this case".
Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov, Minister of Agriculture Ismet
Abbasov, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Huseyngulu
Bagirov and Chairman of the State Customs Committee Aydin Aliyev
informed about the socio-economic results of the first half of
the year.
President Aliyev delivered a final speech at the meeting.