NEW TASKS

The results of the socio-economic development of Azerbaijan in the first half of 2014 have revealed a positive dynamic in practically all sectors of the economy as has been customary over the last few years. President Ilham Aliyev noted at the sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers that there has been a  2.1-per-cent growth in GDP over this period which is a good figure taken against the backdrop of the economic difficulties currently being experienced in the world, the region and Europe. All the more so since the non-oil sector is continuing to boost its growth in stable manner, resulting in a 7-per-cent rise. It is precisely these growth rates that pose the government important new tasks and indicate the feasibility of resolving the problems in hand.

Each according to his job

Thus one of the important aspects on which President Ilham Aliyev focussed more intently in his speech at the sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers was that of solving employment problems. He spoke to the government about the need to create sufficient new jobs. Within the framework of this task 1.3m jobs have been created since 2003 of which approximately 1m million were permanent jobs. At the same time, taking into account the rapid population growth in Azerbaijan, this process also needs to be an ongoing one. Thus, over the last year, the number of people who were gainfully employed in the country's economy has increased by 1.5 per cent and numbered 4,794,000 on 1 July 2014, so the number of people in employment has increased by 1.7 per cent and has reached 4,556,000 people. 

Over the last 10 years the figures for the average annual population growth have gone up, longevity has increased and a positive balance has been attained in migration. The minister of labour and social protection, Salim Muslimov, has reported that in the overall structure of the population the share of the 15-64 age group has risen from 66.7 to 71.8 per cent. Thus at the present time, the age structure of the population of Azerbaijan makes it possible to obtain a demographic dividend. Taking this factor into account, as well as the aims of regulating the quantitative and qualitative growth of the population in keeping with the policy for the long-term development of the country, work has been completed on the "State programme for demographic development and population in Azerbaijan (2014-2025)".

But in this connection, in the opinion of President Ilham Aliyev, the time has come to draw up yet another important programme - a long-term employment concept. In this case, we are most likely to be talking about not only the quantitative indices for new jobs, but also a qualitatively new approach to employment issues and citizen's rights. This is a realistic assessment of the needs of one sector of the economy or another, tackling the problem of training highly qualified staff, the creation of professional standards in various spheres and so forth. Incidentally, as S. Muslimov noted, 200 of these standards have already been drawn up in relation to tourism, the processing industry, construction, energy, agriculture, transport and services, but another 5,000 need to be trained.

As far as the training of staff is concerned, a joint effort is needed here in the sphere of education and the participant in the labour market. For it is no secret that the diploma received by a person when they graduate from an establishment of higher education by no means signifies a "green light" for a young person trying to find a job? It is precisely the rapid development of the economy, the greater demand for the manufacturing process, the raising of standards in the service sector and so forth which is changing the relationship between employer and employee and advancing new demands for skills. As a result, experienced staff are often preferred, rather than beginners. In this connection, the joint project between the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the International Labour Organisation within the framework of which it is envisaged that over a period of six months half of the wages will be paid as a subsidy to young people with higher education who are looking for a job for the first time.

But, alongside this, there is still a serious need to make employers more responsible, taking into account the diminishing number of those failing to conclude employment contracts. S. Muslimov believes that the setting up a system of online registration for employment agreements should help to resolve this problem. This online registration system can be found in "E-government" portal which went into use from 1 July 2014.

In short, all these aspects of regulating the labour market should form the basis of the new concept, to the drawing up of which President Ilham Aliyev has pointed.

 New instructions

It can clearly be seen that no employment programme can be effective without the development of the economy. Numerous different programmes are being implemented by the government today to do this, major state investments are being made and ubiquitous support is being offered to the private sector and so forth.

The setting up of new industrial techno parks and districts, in which production, not just for the domestic market, but for export, rapidly starts to appear, have proved to be sufficiently effective in this sense. So, according to the minister of the economy and industry, Sahin Mustafayev, the residents operating in the Sumgayit industrial chemical techno park have begun producing steel and polyethylene pipes, carrying out organisational work on the production of hydro technical equipment resistant to high pressure, and high density polypropylene and polyethylene.

The companies registered in the Balaxani industrial park have started to organise the production of 120 nominations of various types of products from oil wastes and from the processing of plastic products. The relevant work is being conducted to establish the legal basis for the Mingacevir and Ganca industrial parks. Up-to=date experience is being studied in order to create industrial districts and the drawing up of projects has started for the first time in Neftcala district.

At the same time, President Ilham Aliyev believes that the time has come to set about creating industrial clusters providing for the concentration of the entire production cycle in one place. "In particular, as a result of implementing this project for steel-smelting, metal and aluminium production, we have to provide  for the entire chain of production - the production, processing, development of small and medium-sized business, so that the end product is made in Azerbaijan," the head of state said.

All these projects, as well as major state initiatives in the sphere of agriculture are aimed at the first stage in the development of small and medium business. For long years now the state has already been rendering support to these strata of business by way of various concessions and preferential treatment, as well as through direct loans to the interested enterprises. In six months of this year alone, 2600 entrepreneurs were given concessionary loans amounting to 129m manats; the amount of project financing has gone up 27 per cent compared with the same period last year; what is more, 98 per cent of it is accounted for by small loans.  

It is precisely this factor that exposes yet another reality, a substantial problem that President I. Aliyev has pointed out, namely the low level of involvement by the commercial banks in the country's practical business sector. "Every year the banks are allocated 300m manats through the National Fund for Support to Entrepreneurs, so that they can earn money. Why aren't they issuing loans to the practical sector of the economy? Why are they granting more customer credits? To earn money. They should recognise that they have a sense of responsibility. How can they sit on the fence, when they see what the state's policy is, in particular the policy to develop our country? If that is the case, then why should the state help those banks? This is why very serious reforms need to be conducted here," the head of state said. He said the final decision on this issue would be taken after the results of an analysis of the situation had been adopted.

Probably, a very similar, perhaps an even more serious analysis will have to be conducted regarding another issue selected by the head of state. So, people are bound to be pleased about the trust and popularity that the "ASAN Service "has gained in such a short space of time. In a year and a half the "Service" has received more than 2m requests. People obviously prefer to deal with it rather than with other state bodies when obtaining documents, applying for information, obtaining certificates and so forth. This is eloquently demonstrated by the fact that so many services are needed from "The Service" in the country's regions whether a mobile service is available. "I hear from the places on the spot that people are not allowing these buses to leave their region for another. Why? Because they extort bribes from them there. If that weren't the case, so much interest would not be taken in these buses," President I. Aliyev stated. In other words, the undoubted preference that the population gives to the "ASAN Service" indicates, on the one hand, what a high quality organization the former is, and, on the other hand, the serious problems that exist in state bodies and state services, directly responsible for rendering similar services. In this connection, the head of state has charged the relevant structures (the prosecutor's office and other structures, the representatives of executive power) to pay serious attention to the reasons for and sources of the situation which has been created.

In short, stable growth rates in the economy, opening up new opportunities  for the country's government, becoming the reason for major new initiatives, programmes and project do  simultaneously expose new problems, the solving of which is necessary if long-term progress is to be achieved.

 AT FIRST HAND

"I have been receiving information from places that people there are not allowing these buses to leave their district to go to another district. Why? Because they extort bribes from them there. If this were not the case, then there wouldn't be so much interest in these buses."  

President Ilham Aliyev