Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev made a speech in a video format with new heads of two regional executive authorities yesterday.
President Ilham Aliyev in his speech touched upon important matters regarding the agricultural and economic development in the country, News.az reports.
He noted that the direct and indirect investments along with the infrastructure projects in the development of agriculture in recent years have paved for the major growth.
"There are no problems with the provision of machinery. Very important steps have been taken to make government subsidies more transparent, reforms have been carried out. A more comfortable system has been created for farmers; a very transparent system has been created,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
President also stressed the sustainability of the economic development of Azerbaijan.
"Our economy must maintain and strengthen its sustainability. In order to achieve this, of course, our non-oil sector must develop. This development was very fast until 2020,” he said.
“Due to the pandemic, an economic downturn is observed in all countries, including ours. But this figure is quite low in our country. The economy fell by only 2.8 percent in seven months. In some developed countries, this figure has reached 30 percent; in Europe it has reached 20 percent. It averages about 15 percent in the Eurozone. Therefore, I think that the low level of this figure in Azerbaijan should be viewed as a great achievement on our part,” he added.
President Ilham Aliyev further talked about challenges entrepreneurs faced in the different parts of the country. He said that creating barriers to citizens by executive authorities inhibiting the promotion of their business should be unacceptable.
“Unfortunately, entrepreneurs in some districts are treated unfairly, artificial barriers are created for them, and the local executive bodies ask them for bribes or a share in their business. Obviously this must not be allowed and there must be rigorous control over these issues. Entrepreneurs should only receive support and assistance from government officials. Entrepreneurs should only pay state taxes. No money should be paid to anyone else," he noted.