"The idea of establishing this zone is based on our policy. In particular, the work done to develop the non-oil sector in recent years has given an impetus to establishing this zone. We saw that investment in the non-oil sector was more made by the state or local companies. Foreign companies tend to invest more in the oil and gas sector," President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in a groundbreaking ceremony of Alat Free Economic Zone, Report informs.
Therefore, I am confident that creating this zone will serve the development of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan, the non-oil sector of our economy. At the same time, the infrastructure to be created here will be attractive to investors, new technologies will come to our country, new jobs will be created, the salaries of Azerbaijani citizens will be high, competitive products will be manufactured here, and our non-oil sector's export opportunities will expand. Because if we look at the structure of our gross domestic product, we can see that the oil sector is no longer dominant. However, if we look at exports, we can see that oil and gas products account for the vast majority of our exports. Therefore, one of the key factors was the implementation of reforms and the attraction of foreign investors, especially to the industrial sector. Of course, this idea has been discussed for a long time. But we had to choose the right time to implement this project. We had to be ready for it, and I think we are ready for it today.