Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attended a ground breaking ceremony of Mingachevir Industrial Park and laid a foundation stone of the park on September 21.

The head of state addressing the ceremony of laying the foundation said that the creation of the park is of utmost importance for Mingachevir, underlining that the event is a new stage in the development of the city.

“The work to be implemented in the park will enhance overall economic potential of the country. One of the main advantages of the park is that it will bring large volumes of foreign currency in the country.

The president informed the audience that some nine plants would be created in the park, while the number of employees would reach 5,000 – 6,000 people.

“Work implemented in the industrial park worth $150-200 million. This is a large investment project. The project will make great contribution to the development of the city, creation of jobs, development of agriculture and industrial potential as a whole.”

The president said that Mingachevir, the country’s fourth largest city by population will also be a center of light industry, and perhaps the first one, not only in Azerbaijan but also in the South Caucasus, mentioning that industrial development of the country remains a priority.

President Ilham Aliyev set the goal of minimizing oil dependence of the country, ensuring growth of non-oil sector of economy and increasing the volume of foreign investment in 2015. The head of state said that the increase of non-oil potential and production of export-oriented output are still among main objectives of the country.

“Enterprises, which will operate in the park, will be engaged in the production of such export-oriented products as cotton yarn, woolen yarn, leather goods, and acrylic yarn, while domestic raw material will be used in the majority of enterprises.”

The head of state mentioned that the country is confidently moving forward and is developing steadily despite all difficulties. The state program on socio-economic development of regions has been successfully implemented since 2004 playing a significant role for the development of the country.

Implementation of the tasks set forth in the state programs adopted and successfully carried out in the field of regional development, as well as in the orders on the additional measures concerning the socio-economic development of the regions paved way for further sustainable development.

“In 2004, when the first program was to be adopted, we set the task of ensuring a rapid development of Azerbaijani regions. We implemented infrastructure projects in the regions and created jobs and social institutions so that the development of our country was inclusive and sustainable”

A decision on the creation of a new industrial park in Mingachevir, was made at a meeting of the Economy and Industry Ministry devoted to the execution of the tasks defined by the head of state at a conference on the results of the first year of realization of the "State program of socio-economic development of regions of Azerbaijan in 2014-2018 years.”

Industrial parks have been so far created several regions of the country. The country also provides favorable conditions for other countries to participate in the industrial parks. The government has made certain changes to the legislature in order to ensure further development of the concept of industrial parks and districts. Import of goods by the industrial park residents is exempt of customs duties for a term of five years, while foreign residents of industrial parks are exempt from payments for compulsory social insurance as well as the equipment and technologies used in industrial parks is also exempt from value added tax.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz