“Independence, the 25th anniversary of which we celebrate this year, shows that we can live abasing on our values, visions, traditions and plans related to the creation of a strong, independent, sovereign state. These were the years of political and economic transformation,” said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the opening ceremony of the Azerbaijani-German Economic Forum in Berlin, local media reports.

The Head of State noted that since 2004, the economy in Azerbaijan has increased by 300 percent: “We were able to reduce the level of poverty and unemployment significantly. Currently, both are close to 5 percent.

Competitiveness of our economy has been increased, as oil revenues are invested in the non-oil sector.

According to estimates of the Davos World Economic Forum, Azerbaijan's economy is on the 40th place in the world for the competitiveness index. Currently, some European countries are acquiring about 30 percent of the oil in their energy balance from Azerbaijan. At the present, we are implementing the project “Southern Gas Corridor” together with our partners. According to our plans, the pipeline connecting Azerbaijan and Turkey, will be commissioned in two years, and until 2020, the Azerbaijani gas will be delivered for the first time to the European markets. Proven gas reserves in Azerbaijan are 2.6 trillion cubic meters. I am sure that over time, we will increase these figures further via the new explorations.”