Minister: Azerbaijan's GDP up by 5.6 pct

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov has said that Azerbaijan's GDP grow by 5.6 percent and the non-oil sector by 7.2 percent in 2021.

He made the remarks during the conference "Tax reforms for inclusive and sustainable development: towards voluntary actions through digital transformation".

He noted that the country's nominal GDP increased by AZN 11 billion ($6.4bn), compared to 2019, to AZN 93 billion ($54.7bn).

The minister also stated that the production of products in the industrial zones in Azerbaijan in 2021 increased by 88.3 percent to AZN 2.4 billion ($1.4bn).

"Until today, investments in the industrial sector amounted to AZN 6.4 billion ($3.7bn), 9,700 new jobs were created, and in addition, there are 370 ongoing projects," he said.

Tax revenues

The minister stated that the tax revenues transferred to the Azerbaijani budget amounted to AZN 12.5 billion ($7.3bn) or 74.2 percent of all revenues in 2021.

Jabbarov added that the work is underway in Azerbaijan to reduce the inflation rate, noting that the government has already developed a corresponding program. He stated that it is planned to expand and transfer the activity of the state structures into the digital format, to accelerate the restoration work in the liberated lands in 2022 and further years.

The minister also stressed that a breakthrough has been made in the digitalization of the work of the State Tax Service over the past few years.

“As a result, the process of rendering tax services was simplified,” he said.

Strategic development

Jabbarov stated that this and the next four years will become a new stage in Azerbaijan's economic strategic development.

He noted that it is planned to strengthen competitiveness, innovative orientation and financial sustainability of the national economy during this period.

"The activation of drivers of sustainable economic growth, reintegration of liberated territories into the economy of Azerbaijan is envisaged until 2026. The new strategy of socio-economic development for 2022-2026 aims to expand public-private partnerships in all sectors of the economy, significantly improve the quality of the ecosystem," he said.

The strategy also envisages sustainable development of human capital, the creation of favorable conditions for wide application of digital economy and innovations, the minister added.

"At the new stage, the main sources of Azerbaijan's economic growth will be investments from the private sector and non-oil sector," he said.

Development strategy top priority

Moreover, speaking at the conference, Assistant to the Azerbaijani President Shahmar Movsumov stated that the main priority of the country's development strategy is the competitive economy.

He noted that the reforms that have contributed to the reduction of the shadow economy and ensured the transparency of doing business have been recently carried out in Azerbaijan. 

“The main priorities of our country's development strategy are the competitive economy, the process of increasing the share of the non-oil sector and stimulation of more efficient activity, including the activity in the Azerbaijani liberated lands,” he said.

Movsumov added that the development of digital transformation contributes to the strengthening of cybersecurity, noting that Azerbaijan is actively involved in this work.

“The fourth industrial revolution can accelerate the digital transformation process,” he said.