Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28
By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend:
Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Development Effectiveness Committee recommends that ADB’s support for economic diversification in Azerbaijan includes more analytical work, Trend reports with reference to the ADB’s independent evaluation.
According to the evaluation, government policies and infrastructure investments to diversify economic activity beyond oil—which accounts for 75 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports— had some success in agriculture and food staples, which benefited from special development initiatives.
“The government and ADB share the objective of diversifying the economy by boosting non-oil sectors that are likely to do best in regional and world markets,” the research reads.
The study says the focus of economic diversification should be on the tradable sectors, in which Azerbaijan has a comparative advantage in export markets.
The evaluation recommends that ADB’s support for economic diversification includes more analytical work to nurture some of the 11 economic sectors identified for development in the government’s 2016–2025 Strategic Road Map.
ADB’s program for Azerbaijan during 2011–2017 consisted of 47 projects. Energy was the largest sector supported, accounting for 42 percent ($2.1 billion) of total financing followed by transport, at 27 percent ($1.4 billion).
Azerbaijan became an ADB member on Dec. 22, 1999 and its share in the bank is 0.5 percent.
Since 2003, the bank has allocated loans to Azerbaijan worth over $4 billion for implementation of 69 projects in the public and private sectors.
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