MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/: The sharp drop of oil prices in the past several months highlights the beginning of the post-oil period in the global economy, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman.
"I have repeatedly said that we should forget about the oil sector. Today, with such oil prices, one can say that the post-oil period has started," Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan has succeeded in breaking the dependence on crude production and oil prices, he noted. "Suffice to say that in the first quarter of this year industrial production in the sector not related to oil and gas output rose by 23%," the president said. "That was an absolute record and I think that amid the pandemic that figure, of course, inspires respect for the work we have done," he added.
It is necessary to make efforts to bring the economy out of the shadows for creating a strong economy not reliant, first of all, on oil production and sales, to develop infrastructure, bolster such sectors as agriculture and tourism and tap the potential of information and communications technologies, Aliyev said.
"And, of course, returning to the global economic issues, that is improvement of business climate both for local and foreign investors and support of small enterprises. We are currently taking large steps in that direction. It will ensure both employment and economic diversification. We know that through the example of developed countries where the share of small and mid-sized businesses in GDP is more than half," he said, adding that it is necessary to follow that example.
