RELIABLE PARTNER

Azerbaijan's successes in both the economic and political spheres have been recognized yet again - the British mag­azine The Business Year has declared President Ilham Aliyev "The Man of the Year".

The head of state has been award­ed this title for the active participation of Azerbaijan, a country dynamically developing in recent years, in the global geopolitical processes, its con­tribution as a member of the UN Security Council to maintaining peace and security in the global arena, conducting important international forums in various areas, etc.

Eighty per cent of the South Caucasus economy

In an interview with the magazine, President Ilham Aliyev spoke about Azerbaijan's development and forth­coming plans relating to the public, political and socioeconomic spheres.

Ilham Aliyev indicated that in the last 10 years the Azerbaijani economy had grown three times, a modem social and economic infrastructure been created, economic diversifica­tion ensured and dynamic develop­ment of the non-oil sector secured.

He emphasized that in the 2005-2009 period, Azerbaijan was a leading country in the world for the rate of economic development and complet­ed the period of its economic transi­tion. This enabled the country to shift its focus on reducing the country's dependence on oil, and the dynamics of the last three years show that this goal has been achieved.

The head of state noted further that while in some countries, for example Armenia, the public debt is approach­ing 50 per cent of the GDP and this situation is expected to gradually aggravate further, in Azerbaijan pub­lic debt accounts for only 7-8 per cent of the GDP, one of the lowest indica­tors in the world. From the standpoint of the economic potential, Azerbaijan accounts for more than 80 per cent of the South Caucasus economy.

"While the world's leading rating agencies such as "Fitch", "Moody's" and "Standard and Poor's" downgrad­ed the credit ratings of most devel­oped countries last year, our rating has been upgraded. Azerbaijan has advanced into the category of coun­tries with "high human development" in a human development report of the United Nations Development Program. The "Global Competitiveness Report" of the World Economic Forum rates Azerbaijan as 46th country in the world and first in the CIS. The decision has been made to conduct this year's session of the Davos Economic Forum in Azerbaijan. This is evidence of the fact that Azerbaijan's economic achievements are recognized by the international community," the President said. President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan had fully ensured its energy security over these years. Today, Azerbaijan is a country con­tributing to the energy security of both the region and Europe. Azerbaijan's contribution to the gas market of sev­eral European countries has increased to 40 per cent. After the implementa­tion of the TANAP project, which was initiated by Azerbaijan and is being realized jointly with Turkey, i.e. after 2017, the country's role in the natural gas market of Europe will further increase.

Another indicator of Azerbaijan's economic strength has been the launch of the first artificial telecommunica­tions satellite into orbit, which enabled Azerbaijan to become a member of the space club. Two more satellites will be launched into orbit in 2015 and 2016.

Social solution

The President said that the eco­nomic successes have enabled Azerbaijan to address social issues and strengthen the army to the level of the strongest army of the South Caucasus, which is very important given the occupation of 20 per cent of the coun­try's territory.

As a result of the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects, the country has managed to eliminate the gap in the level of development between the capital and the country­side. More than 2,500 schools meeting contemporary requirements, hundreds of healthcare institutions, sports and numerous social infrastructure facilities have been put into operation, salaries and social benefits have been regularly increased. In addition, in 2012 Azerbaijan started the process of payment of compensations for the deposits left in the Soviet savings bank. It is worth mentioning that Azerbaijan is the only country of the former Soviet Union to repay these deposits in a short period of time and with a high interest rate.

A lot has also been done to improve the living conditions of more than a million refugees and internally displaced who lost their homes in the wake of Armenian occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijani lands. "In 2004, we began to take serious steps to improve the plight of the internally displaced people. Over this period, all the tent-camps have been eliminated, 77 modem settlements have been built and the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people have been improved," President Ilham Aliyev said.

Center of dialogue between civilizations

The country's political successes are also worthy of note. Standing out, of course, has been Azerbaijan's elec­tion as a member of the UN Security Council. This was an international assessment of the country's sustain­able development in the years of inde­pendence, an indicator of global respect and recognition of Azerbaijan's contribution to global security.

Touching upon the relations with neighboring countries, Ilham Aliyev highlighted Turkey and Russia, indi­cating that the projects implemented on Azerbaijan's initiative in recent years have enhanced the importance of Turkey as a transit country and a con­tributor to European energy security. He stated that Azerbaijan was current­ly implementing a project on the con­struction of a petrochemical and refin­ing complex in Turkey worth $17 bil­lion.

The relations with Russia have assumed the nature of strategic part­nership. Political dialogue, humanitar­ian cooperation, strengthening of economic relations and other issues form the core of the bilateral agenda. "Russia is first of all an important market for our agricultural produce. We have recently started to invest in real estate and in the shares of major commercial entities in Russia. Azerbaijani companies are implement­ing projects in the area of processing of agricultural produce in Russia," President Ilham Aliyev said. By and large, Azerbaijan is developing friend­ly and sincere relations with other countries of the region too.

Azerbaijan has already become a center of dialogue between civiliza­tions, a center of multiculturalism and a venue for the discussion of pressing political, economic, humanitarian and other issues. In 2011, Azerbaijan won Europe's top music competition, the "Eurovision" song contest, and in 2012 it successfully hosted this com­petition in Baku, demonstrating the country's great potential to the world.

The next objective on the agenda is to successfully hest the inaugural European Olympic Games in 2015. The president stressed that host coun­tries are usually allowed six to seven years to prepare for Olympic Games, but Azerbaijan has only two years. "I am absolutely sure that the infrastruc­ture and all technical and organization­al issues will be successfully resolved for the inaugural European Olympic Games in 2015," he said.

Dialogue and cooperation

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy have shared their views with The Business Year on cooperation with Azerbaijan and the country's place in the world.

The secretary general of NATO said that the Alliance and Azerbaijan had recently taken important steps to deepen their partnership. "Azerbaijan is an important partner for NATO, and we have achieved a great deal togeth­er. We have the capacity to do even more to strengthen our long-term part­nership, political dialogue and practi­cal cooperation," he said.

This partnership also supports the reforms in Azerbaijan, especially in the sphere of defense, where the coun­try develops modem and accountable armed forces that meet today's securi­ty challenges and can play their part in multinational operations, he was quot­ed by Trend news agency as saying.

However, according to the secre­tary general, this region still faces seri­ous security threats. "Azerbaijan has a complex neighborhood and the Nagomyy-Karabakh conflict is still the biggest regional challenge. The only way forward is through dialogue, compromise and cooperation. NATO as an organization is not directly involved in finding a solution to this conflict. We do not take sides, but will continue to support the Minsk process and the efforts towards a peaceful set­tlement," Rasmussen said.

President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said Azerbaijan was in many ways a unique country. "For centuries Azerbaijan was a transit corridor which has covered the Silk Road and modem energy pipelines. This has helped preserve the tradition of openness in its society where many ethnic and religious communities have lived in harmony," Rompuy said. According to him, the EU sees Azerbaijan as a strategic partner in the energy sector and strongly supports the "Southern Gas Corridor" project, including the Trans-Caspian pipeline that will benefit all parties involved. The stable socioeconomic develop­ment of Azerbaijan, its growing role in the political arena of the region and the world, close friendly relations, and planned and implemented transnation­al projects lead to further international recognition of the country as a selfsufficient and equal partner.