11:36 - 5.09.2022

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September 5, Fineko/abc.az. With respect to the diversification, of course, no matter how we try to diversify our exports, our non-oil and non-gas exports will not match oil and gas exports, because oil and gas exports are growing.

ABC.AZ reports that President Ilham Aliyev said this in an interview for Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore in Cernobbio on 2 September.

The head of state gave an appropriate example:

“For instance, with Italy, we supplied natural gas to Italy last year in the amount of $9.6 bn. This year, in 7 months, $11 bn and the gas price is up. So, for us diversification is not statistics which is reflected in GDP. It is a means to provide jobs and to provide good quality of life to our people. If you look at our GDP, for instance, in these six months, what you will see. GDP grew 6.2%, but in the non-energy sector almost 10%, in the non-energy related industry more than 11% and also in the non-energy exports grew 25%. The growth is here, but it is not enough.

Therefore, we need more reforms, more investments in the non-energy sector and for that, of course, we need to have a better business climate. Also there is an improvement, but still we need to do a lot in order to remove all these bureaucratic obstacles and some psychological legacy of the Soviet past.”