For the past 10 years
it is said that the World Bank has been giving to
Azerbaijan a total amount of loans of $500 million.
How would you describe the co-operation that has
been created between the Azeri government and the
WB over the past 10 years?
I think the cooperation between the Azerbaijan
government and the WB has developed a lot and
has become a successful partnership. We are widely
accepted in the country and are working with all
ministries as partners. We feel the government
and the people have a good understanding of our
role here.
Now the people see the benefits since the projects
we have been supporting have already yielded good
results and we provide not only the financial
but also the technical assistance.
The bank mission is very targeted towards fighting
poverty. We have also been increasingly expanding
the outreach. We carry out programmes to talk
to a broader range of people and try to keep the
dialogue both with the government and the private
sector in order to work out our strategy. We travel
a lot to the regions and focus on communicating
with the people.
Can you mention one or two of your major achievements
so far?
Azerbaijan was going through an economic crisis
and a big depression in all sectors of the economy
with a very poor fiscal and financial management.
Through WB collaboration with the International
Monetary Fund and work with the government in
order to establish sound economic stability was
basically a progress by itself and have yielded
striking results such as full stabilization since
1995, very low inflation rate, very low depreciation
of the exchange rate, annual double digit GDP
growth and the last couple of years were very
good in terms non-oil GDP improvement. These are
the most important contributions of the WB to
the economic and structural reforms that have
been carried out in the country. We finance some
very important projects concerning different sectors,
especially regarding the environment , poverty
reduction and social protection that already have
given tangible results in sectors such as agriculture,
social matters,, water supply, and reconstruction..
What are the government bodies you are in
closest contact with?
We keep contact not just with one but with all
ministries. It is the nature of our institution.
Our agenda includes the social economic development.
Obviously, the main contact is the Ministry of
Finance as the official representative of the
borrower, i.e. the country. We also deal with
the Cabinet of Ministers, that is the office of
Prime Minister. Our other important counterparts
are the Ministry of Economic Development and the
National Bank of Azerbaijan, head of which is
the Bank's Governor in Azerbaijan.
But as to the projects such as irrigation or agriculture
as a whole we deal with the relevant ministries.
On January 21, 2004 a mission from the World
Bank came to Baku. The basic purpose of the visit
was to prepare a new project on development of
the private sector. What does that project consist
of exactly?
This is the usual checklist we do in each country.
We try to help the Government set fair competition,
de-monopolize the market (economy) by setting
up the legal framework. We are mainly working
on the legal regulatory side, as well as creating
free entry policy. We also provide technical support
to some institutions. At the moment the features
of the program have not been worked out yet.
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As to the government,
one of their priorities is the development of the
private sector, which we are supporting. You have
to see the whole program but not a particular project.
It is the government that sets up the priorities.
On November 24, 2003, the President of Azerbaijan
issued a decree. That was the first decree of the
new president. The decree is called "On measures
to accelerate socio-economic development in Azerbaijan".
And it basically provides the picture of the strategic
priorities on the medium term. And the WB tries
to support it. You can classify these issues into
3 categories:1) creating opportunities, jobs in
the non-oil sector, 2) transparency, accountability,
efficiency in terms of public sector, 3) equity
and sustainability of social services on the market.
These are the main challenges that Azerbaijan faces
in terms of medium-term development. We fully support
the government's efforts in reaching the overall
goals which are the improvement of the business
environment in the non-oil and private sectors.
The government is obviously trying to create
opportunities that will generate a sustainable
development. But what are the main hindrances
or setbacks that still deter a potential investor
from investing in Azerbaijan especially in the
non-oil sector?
I think the legal infrastructure must be improved.
The obstacles other than the legal ones are demonopolization,
competitions, free entry, and registration. There
is sensitivity towards this issue. Our role is
always to make sure there is coordination with
the technical assistance needed.
As a foreigner would you say that it is a
right time to invest in Azerbaijan?
In certain areas it is the right time to invest.
There are problems naturally. The most important
is that there is a process or trend. If you compare
the economic indicators of 1998-1999 with those
of 2003-2004 you'll see the real picture, the
improvement. The government is better structured
and more efficient, corruption has lowered, the
legal framework has improved and there is more
transparency.
It is really up to the businessmen to decide whether
they should invest or not. This is really the
right time otherwise it will be too late. So when
I speak about Azerbaijan today I can talk about
stability, economic growth. We are very positive
about that.
The WB is going to finance the creation of
a Cultural and Information Center in Icheri Sheher
(Old City) in Baku. It seems there is a great
need to protect and let people know about the
great cultural heritage of this country?
We finance a project called "Cultural Heritage
Support". We agreed with the government on
some activities that would help to strengthen
the performance through the community development
and also help the communities living around the
four e cultural heritage sites restored under
the project in various part of the country. .
An Information and Services center in Icheri Sheher
could help the poor communities of this old part
of Baku, improve their living through, say, offering
various kind of services to tourists or visitors.
Icheri Sheher is the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan
as well. It is related to community development.
The people that come here must be very careful
not to damage this cultural heritage that has
been included in the list of the UNESCO.
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V.I.P. INTERVIEWS
