President Aliyev: Industrial, agricultural sectors to ensure Azerbaijan’s development

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev attended a general meeting marking the 70th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) on November 9.

He congratulated the Academy on the occasion and addressed the event.

The president noted that ANAS had come a long way in 70 years and, today, plays an important role in the country’s development, while the scientists also contribute to the development of Azerbaijan.

Ilham Aliyev pointed out that during the first years of Azerbaijan’s independence, the attitude toward the ANAS was negative, as the government of the day had dismissed its importance.

The head of state stressed that only after the return to power of the great leader Heydar Aliyev did science and the work of scientists begin to gain value, and today, this sector is one of the country's priorities.

Speaking of the role of scientists in helping the country's progress, President Aliyev said that in a world where new threats exist, it is important that every country rely on its own internal resources.

The president expressed hope that Azerbaijan's economic development would continue in the coming years.

He also noted that Azerbaijan would make greater efforts to achieve sustainable economic development so that it never needs to be dependent on anyone and can use its internal resources.

Ilham Aliyev further urged scientists to present their valuable suggestions for combating existing challenges. He pointed out that scientists needed to start working on a new strategy for demographic development.

The president called on the scientists to be active in the development of the non-oil industry and in ensuring food security.

President Aliyev said the industrial and agricultural sectors would ensure Azerbaijan’s continued development, adding that there was a need to strengthen the country's international cooperation in the space industry.

The president further said that there is considerable scope for Azerbaijani scientists to work in the field of military industry. He noted that today Azerbaijan produces more than a thousand military items, and basic equipment of the Azerbaijani Army at the expense of domestic production.

Ilham Aliyev urged the country's scientists to get acquainted with international experience for the use of the latest technologies in the oil and gas sector, which is of strategic importance for Azerbaijan.

Noting that the scientists face many challenges, the president said that it is important for Azerbaijani science to develop and contribute to the country's common development.

He further said that Azerbaijani scientists should be active in the issue of multiculturalism, preserving the purity of the Azerbaijani language, bringing the world more complete information about Azerbaijan's rich history.

Today, Azerbaijan is known throughout the world as a reliable partner, playing a decisive role in oil and gas sector and ensuring some countries’ energy security, said President Aliyev.

The president said that after a few years, Azerbaijan will have even more partners, because about 10 countries, and then even more of them, will be able to receive Azerbaijani gas, following the realization of the Southern Gas Corridor.

“Azerbaijan has undertaken leadership in this area,” noted the president. “Azerbaijan is not only an initiator, but it is also a leading force of the Southern Gas Corridor and the TANAP project. We also simultaneously direct our financial resources to this.”

The president said scholars are well aware that all the oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea have been discovered by Azerbaijani scientists.

“If not for the Azerbaijani science school, those fields wouldn’t have been discovered, or they would have been discovered much later,” said President Aliyev.

“Azerbaijani scientists today play an important role in successful implementation of oil and gas operations in the country, they are involved in cooperation with foreign partners and in the projects realized by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan,” he added. “This area is, of course, also strategic for us.”

“Our oil and gas reserves are big enough,” the president added. “The stocks of our gas reserves are enough both for us and for exports to partner countries for at least 100 years.”

President Aliyev further noted that the Azerbaijani scientists should also get familiar with existing and emerging technologies in this area, since there has been a great development in this sector in recent years.

He said that today, Azerbaijan is not only easily drilling wells to the depths that were previously inaccessible, but large rigs, capable of drilling to the greatest depths of earth, are being created even in Baku.

“Therefore, this area is strategic both for us and for our partners,” said President Aliyev.

The meeting was also addressed by the president of ANAS, academician Akif Alizade; Nobel laureate Professor George Fitzgerald Smoot; and the director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, academician Viktor Matveyev.

Established in 1945, ANAS is the main scientific institution in the country and plays an important role in the development of the nation.

Over the last seven decades, scientific achievements by the Academy and numerous inventions produced by the highly skilled staff have played a decisive role in the formation of the current scientific base.

ANAS is a member of many prestigious international scientific organizations; its employees conduct research jointly with the leading scientific organizations of CIS countries, such as the United States, Japan, Israel, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran.