"We have to bravely follow a market economy path"
Heydar Aliyev, Nationwide Leader of Azerbaijan
The implementation of the Strategic Roadmap on the development of the Heavy Industry and Machine Building in the Republic of Azerbaijan was discussed at the Centre for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC). Implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation, Coordination, and Communication issues in accordance with the Program Management were discussed at the event. It should be noted that 3 Strategic Targets and 9 Strategic Priorities are planned to be achieved for the implementation of this Roadmap. During the discussion, it was also noted that the necessary steps for the optimization of existing assets, creation of a competitive sector, provision of financial support and implementation of international cooperation were defined as the main direction of this Roadmap.
Director of the Centre for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC) Vusal Gasimli said that in the course of the implementation of the Strategic Roadmap on the development of Heavy Industry and Machine Building in the Republic of Azerbaijan, important work has been done in this respect. As a result of the reforms, an Investment Databank was established. With the further simplification of business processes, relevant measures were taken to improve Investment Climate: "In January-August 2019, production in the non-oil sector of the industry increased by 15.2 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2018. Also, the production of finished metal products in the processing industry increased by 59.2 percent, the installation and repair of machinery and equipment by 26.4 percent, the production of machinery and equipment by 13.6 percent, the production of building materials by 7.8 percent, the production of computer, electronic and optical products by 55.4 percent, the production of chemical products by 30.4%. Production of metal ores in the mining industry increased by 11.2 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2018 in January-June 2019.
At the same time, work has been done to improve the staffing of industrial enterprises during the relevant period. Industrial vocational training programs for specialists in industry and installation, automation, automotive, mining, and other types of vocational programs have been developed. In January-May 2019, the average monthly salary of hired workers in the industrial sectors of the country increased by 7.3 percent to 1012.1 AZN.”
During the discussion, it was noted that the development of light, food, chemical, construction, and other processing industries and mining industries depends on the intensive development of production lines, machinery and equipment, various machine-tools and other products of Heavy Industry and Machine Building industries. In January-June 2019, the manufacture of Food Products (32.4%), Oil Products (25.5%) and Construction Materials (6.6%) accounted for the highest specific weight sub-sectors in the structure of production in the processing industry.
It should be noted that representatives of the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Education, the State Committee on Property Issues, and other state bodies participated in the discussions on the “Strategic Roadmap on the development of Heavy Industry and Machine Building in the Republic of Azerbaijan”.
