AZERBAIJAN`S ECONOMY GREW 3.7% IN FIRST HALF OF 2010, PRESIDENT SAYS

Baku, July 14 (AzerTAc). President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has praised the country`s economic development, saying it has seen a 3.7-percent growth in the first half of the year.
The President chaired a Cabinet meeting to discus the results of the socio-economic development in the first six months of 2010.
“Our national economy saw considerable development in 2009 despite the year was marked by a global financial crisis and economic regression in many world countries. These positive tendencies have been continuing this year, and there has been progress in all spheres of our economy.”
The President said: “3.7 percent it is a very good figure. In general, Azerbaijan`s economy is being developed in a diversified manner, and, as you know, developing the non-oil sector is our priority.”
On the oil and gas sector, the Azerbaijani President said: “What we`ve achieved here is enough for us, and we need to preserve the production rate”.
“If we divide our industrial potential, we`ll see that the increase in the oil sector has been 2.4 percent while in the non-oil sector 15.3 percent.”
“We`ll continue placing a particular emphasis on developing the non-oil sector, and the fact the increase here exceeded 15 percent proves that Azerbaijan`s economy is a diversified economy. Our goal is developing all spheres of life in Azerbaijan through the effective use of oil revenues, and we`ve get it done.”
The President said: “What we must do is to decrease – to the maximum extent – the dependence of Azerbaijan`s economy on the oil factor…”