President: Growth in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector makes up 15.3 percent due to work done so far

The growth in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector totalled 15.3 percent over the past six months of this year, which is the result of work done so far, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, inaugurating Masazyr Salt Refinery, AzerTAj state news agency reported.

"Today, indeed very significant events take place in the economic life of Azerbaijan. We can say that today foundation of a new sphere of industry is laid in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will now produce high-quality salt. Establishment of this plant is a logical result of the ongoing economic policy in Azerbaijan. Our goal is to achieve overall development of Azerbaijan's economy and diversify it. All the targets in the economic sphere are implemented," said President Ilham Aliyev.

The President said that Azerbaijan has created a new modern manufacturing industry, which is one of the main directions of economic policy.

"The establishment of this plant has several goals. Firstly, Azerbaijan has created a new modern manufacturing industry, which is one of the pillars of our economic policy. The most modern equipment has been installed at the plant, technological process meets world standards. Of course, all these works will allow processing salt in Azerbaijan at the world level for many years. On the other hand, creation of this plant means production of competitive products, which is also one of the directions of our policy. We want all products manufactured in Azerbaijan to be competitive, meet domestic needs and, at the same time, boost export potential of Azerbaijan," the president added.

Plant has also created new jobs, the president said.

"This is also one of the directions of our policies. Jobs are opened at fast pace, citizens are employed in all regions of Azerbaijan. This plant will enable Azerbaijan to be salt exporting country and the salt will completely meet domestic needs. This will allow us to further develop local production, reduce dependence on imports, and thus, more successfully move Azerbaijan forward. These factors indicate that all of our initiatives in economic sphere are successful. At the same time, as was noted here today, this salt is very important for human health. Citizens of Azerbaijan will already consume iodized, refined salt," said Ilham Aliyev.


/Trend/