After the discovery of oil fields, Baku became a special place, where various economic and political interests of international coalitions, industrial clans and leaders were concentrated and clashed. VK begins publishing chapters from the book by Ismail Agakishiyev "History of the Baku Oil Industry and the Second Oil Boom (second half of the 19th century - beginning of the 20thcentury)" The book presents a historical analysis of the emergence and current state of the Azerbaijani oil industry.
The government also paid particular attention to education. The budget allocated to education grows every year and by 2013 should reach 1.7 billion manats, while in 2008 it was around 1 billion manats and 235 million manats in 2003. In 2003--2007 Azerbaijan built new schools for 254,000 pupils. 82% of them have modern IT equipment. Two special state programs provide for the use of IT equipment in schools and kindergartens. The overall number of state programs in the sphere of education is 12. In the last five years the average salary of those employed in education tripled. 8 In 2009 GPD growth reached 9.3%, with 11% growth in the oil sector and 4% growth in other sectors.
The Azerbaijani economy comprises two thirds of the overall GDP in the whole of the South Caucasus. The numbers of the economic development of Azerbaijan are very impressive. From 2004 to 2009 GDP grew 2.8-fold, so the economic potential of the country almost tripled. In 2009 the GDP of Azerbaijan reached about 43.5 billion dollars, with a population of 9 million. In 2009 9.2 billion dollars was invested in the Azerbaijani economy, including 7.3 billion dollars of internal investment. Despite the global financial crisis, Azerbaijan managed to increase its foreign currency reserves to 20.4 billion dollars. The annual per capita GDP in Azerbaijan is 4874.1 dollars. The share of the private sector in GDP is 84.5%. In 2009 industrial growth was 8.6%. In 2009 the non-oil sector of the economy brought 44.6% of GDP, with 1% growth in a year. 10. The priorities lie in the sphere of innovative productions, IT, machine-building including equipment for the oil industry, ships and agriculture.
The production of an extracting off-shore deep-water platform was realized. The state program provides for the creation of the infrastructure for the space industry and launching the first communication satellite of Azerbaijan. The first contracts about putting it into orbit have been signed. Agriculture is a traditionally important branch; in 2009 it grew by 3.5%. The share of agriculture in GDP is about 6% or 2.9 billion dollars. The production of fruit, vegetables and crops accounts for 56% of it and 44% goes to animal husbandry. Agricultural products compose an important share of exports to the CIS countries.
Services - transportation, communication and trade - are also developing dynamically. In 2009 retail trade turnover grew by 8.9%, cargo traffic by 3.7%, the growth of communications was 13.1%. The poverty level in Azerbaijan fell from 49% in 2004 to 11% in 2009. The real nominal income grew by 8% per person, the average salary by 8.6%.
According to the State Statistical Committee, the average salary in Azerbaijan in April 2010 reached 304 manats (one manat equals one euro), growing 4% per year. In February the average salary in industry was 415.9 manats, in construction 479.2 manats, in transport 337.7 manat. However, experts believe that real incomes are much higher because of the considerable shadow economy - according to the IMF report of the mid-2000s, it accounts for 60% of GDP. Only in Georgia this indicator was higher - 70%. According to the IMF, the real GDP of Azerbaijan, including the shadow economy, amounts to 70 billion dollars.
The growing buying capacity is confirmed by the fact that the shops of the most important brands and elite housing projects appeared in Azerbaijan, by the huge number of expensive cars and the restaurants full of people. More than 70 billion dollars is invested in the Azerbaijani economy, more than a half of which is from abroad. Most of the investments come from the UK and the US, as well as Japan, Norway, France and Turkey. In the first quarter of 2009 the volume of investment in the country's economy was 16.4 billion manats, which is 5% more than the previous year. 75% of the total volume is composed of internal investments. Interestingly, foreign banks are forbidden from engaging in retail services, they can only work with legal entities. This limitation saved Azerbaijan from catastrophe in the mortgage loans market.
In 2009 50.376 tons of oil were extracted in Azerbaijan, which was 13.8% more than in the previous year. The AIOC extraction was 41.9 million tons. Recently Azerbaijan also became an international investor - SOCAR has invested 400 million dollars in the Georgian economy. It already accounts for 75% of the Georgian fuel and gas market. Azerbaijan also invests in Turkey and the CIS.
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