On 2 February, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev approved the document: “Azerbaijan 2030: National priorities for socio-economic development,” which outlined the country's economic priorities for the upcoming years.
The national priorities includes five main directions, namely: 1) ensuring sustainable growth and competitiveness of the economy; 2) creating a dynamic, inclusive society based on social justice; 3) competitive human capital and modern innovation; 4) the return of Azerbaijani population to Nagorno-Karabakh; and 5) clean environment and “green growth” country.
In the first direction, the tasks are set to achieve economic growth that ensures an annual increase in living standards through the creation of highly profitable jobs. The following two criteria should be met by the effective implementation of this priority: 1) sustainable and high economic growth and 2) resistance to internal and external influences. Special attention will be paid to the development of the non-oil sector, by increasing the share of the private sector in its financing. It was also underlined that it is necessary to accelerate the development of capital and insurance markets, which are the main source of long-term investment resources in the economy. The tasks are also set to attract foreign direct investment in the country's economy, including strategic investors in infrastructure.
There is also a plan to increase the economic efficiency of public investments and the activities of state-owned companies, as well as to increase the level of transparency in this area, so as to minimise the shadow economy. “The application of a modern culture of corporate behaviour in economic management should be expanded and encouraged, the fight against corruption should be strengthened, and a modern civil service system and ethics should be formed in order to meet new challenges,” the strategy emphasised.
In relation to the second priority, it was highlighted that a decent level of the minimum amount of pensions, benefits, scholarship, and other social payments should be achieved in the country. The financial sustainability of the pension provision system must be strengthened for its long-term development and the proportion of pension amounts to paid insurance fees should be increased. Social rehabilitation infrastructure should be accessible for people with disabilities as well as children under 18 years old with limited health prospects, employment support programs for these people should be expanded and social security should be strengthened. Social services system should meet the interests of socially vulnerable population groups by creating equal participation opportunity for them.
The return of the Azerbaijani population to Nagorno-Karabakh should be carried out on the basis of stimulus and within the framework of the development of public-private cooperation. In relation to the final priority, the improvement of environment, rapid restoration and enhancement of greenery, efficient use of water resources and sustainable energy resources was emphasised.
