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Azerbaijani President: "Azerbaijan is ready to enter the European market with its gas resources"

16 February 2018 03:04 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan will be a reliable and long-term supplier of energy resources to the world markets for decades, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council in Baku, APA reports.

"The Southern Gas Corridor is an energy security project. If we talk about national security, then, of course, at the moment, energy security is one of the most important elements. The Southern Gas Corridor is a project of energy diversification, we have diversification of routes and sources. This is a real diversification, since the diversification of only the routes is somewhat different from ours. The Southern Gas Corridor is a project of cooperation in the energy sector and shows how cooperation should be. Cooperation is possible only if all parties benefit from it. Therefore, first of all, our main goal is to find a good balance between producers, transit countries and consumers. Only in this case we can succeed, and the successful implementation of the project shows that we are on the right track. The interests of producers or producers are fully taken into account - as long as there is only one producer - Azerbaijan - of transit countries and consumers, and the Southern Gas Corridor opens the way to multibillion investments in all the countries involved. This means thousands of new jobs. This means not only energy, but also transport infrastructure, investment of transport infrastructure. This will lead to the gasification of many territories in countries along the route of the Southern Gas Corridor and members of the Southern Gas Corridor. All this means development, stability, predictability and opens the way to cooperation. Because today the countries participating in the Southern Gas Corridor are very close partners of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has already signed the declaration on strategic partnership with the overwhelming majority of these countries. At present, we are negotiating with the European Union, and a new partnership agreement will create a new format of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union."

The head of state noted that along with previous projects, the "Southern Gas Corridor" project brings new benefits to our country: "Azerbaijan has effectively used its energy resources to diversify the economy, invest in human capital, and fully transform the economy. At present, the absolute majority of the gross domestic product falls to the share of the private sector. "

The President noted that the currency reserves of Azerbaijan are equal to the gross domestic product: "I think that the best indicator of economic diversification is the assessment of the Davos World Economic Forum. The latest estimate shows that Azerbaijan is on the 35th place in terms of competitiveness. According to the index of inclusive development among developing countries, Azerbaijan takes third place. We are ahead of only 30 developed and 2 developing countries. This means that for competitiveness and development we occupy 33rd and 35th place. This is the indicator and result of our policy, supported by the energy factor. Of course, we will continue to actively work in Azerbaijan with our partners in connection with the new energy development. "