Azerbaijani President: If we hadn’t channelled oil capital into human capital and infrastructure projects, our non-oil sector could not grow so much

Baku, July 11 (AzerTAc). “Our non-oil sector has been growing in recent years, and the growth here has been at a rate of 7 per cent. If we hadn’t channelled the oil capital into human capital and infrastructure projects, our non-oil sector could not grow so much,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of socioeconomic development in the first half of 2014 and objectives for the future. “Perhaps it would be experiencing the recession and then we would depend only on the oil factor. The funds being allocated and the reforms to be implemented in the coming years will lead to the fact that the non-oil sector will have even greater strength.” The head of state added: “In the first half of the year our economic indicators are also very positive – the economy has grown by 2.1 per cent. Perhaps this is not such a high figure as compared to previous periods. But against the backdrop of the economic hardship experienced in the world, the region and Europe today, I think this is a very good indicator.”