12:31 - 6.03.2019

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March 6, Fineko/abc.az. The World Bank is holding today high-level forum on the theme "Economic Diversification - Role of Private Sector".

Addressing to the forum Deputy Prime Minister Ali Akhmedov stated that Azerbaijan has been successfully pursuing the policy of economic diversification, particularly amid the meeting the challenges of the crisis period.

"Currently, Azerbaijan is realizing serious economic and social reforms, one of the main goals of which is to diversify the economy and reduce the dependence on energy resources," the Deputy PM said.

According to Akhmedov, in 2018 country's economy grew by 1.2%, growth of the non-oil sector exceeded 2% and the agricultural sector 3% that testifies about the success of the policy of economic diversification.

"The role of the private sector in the success of diversification policy should be stressed as well. Due to the taken measures, the number of new jobs is constantly growing in the country, and up to 120 thousand new workers will appear in the market in the next few years that will be possible as a result of development of small- and medium-sized businesses," Akhmedov said.

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Economy Minister Sevinj Hasanova stated that so far Azerbaijan has implemented more than 50 projects with the World Bank for totally $4 billion.