Agriculture named most promising sector of country`s economy

By Azernews

The dynamic development of the economy of Azerbaijan in recent years and the expansion of the country’s financial opportunities have opened up new possibilities for the development of agriculture, which is one of the main areas of the non-oil sector.

The report "Business outlook in Azerbaijan", prepared by Deloitte, published the results of a survey aimed at identifying the main sectors of the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan which will develop rapidly over the next five years.

The survey respondents were financial directors and managers of leading companies in Azerbaijan.

According to the survey, more than half of respondents said that agriculture and tourism will have the fastest growth in the non-oil sector (69 and 60 percent, respectively). They are followed by retail services (26 percent), construction (23 percent), financial and insurance services (20 percent). In addition, 17 percent of respondents believe that the sector of production, transport and warehousing will develop rapidly.

In particular, companies from the energy, resources and industry sectors, which accounted for 33 percent of the respondents, said that construction will be one of the fastest growing sectors of Azerbaijan’s economic development.

A third of companies representing the consumer sector, which also accounted for 33 percent of the respondents, believe that the transport and warehousing sector has a chance to be one of the fastest growing industries.

More than a third of financial services companies, which accounted for 36 percent of the respondents, believe that financial and insurance services will demonstrate the fastest growth.

Azerbaijan, along with fertile land, has favorable climatic conditions. This provides an opportunity for the development of agriculture in the country. Azerbaijan has 4.8 million hectares of agricultural land, which comprises over 50 percent of its total territory, of which 39.6 percent is arable.

Meanwhile, the food-processing sector constitutes an important component of the national economy and accounts for over 38 percent of the total manufacturing industry. The enhancement of agriculture sector plays an important role in the development of rural regions, where 47 percent of Azerbaijan’s population lives.

Thus, the development of agriculture is constantly in the spotlight of Azerbaijan, so the country seeks to achieve tangible improvements in agriculture by implementing reforms in this sphere as well as cooperating with world’s most dominant agricultural centers.